The Foreseeable Future
by IwriteUread
Summary: Emerald, Chase, Jake, Harry, Poppy and Dreamer have lived at the school for most of their lives. What happens when a certain flock save their lives? The summery's kinda bad...Rated T cos I'm paranoid.Nudge/OC Iggy/OC Slight Gazzy/OC FINISHED!
1. Chapter 1

**Heyyyyyyy peoples! Welcome to my second fanfic! It's going to be a proper story this time! Yayyyyy! Okay, so in this story I've made my own flock (though one of them doesn't have wings) but you won't actually meet them all until a later chapter. The real flock (that James Patterson created) will come in later after that later chapter. Okay, so this can be before or after any book in the series. But the Erasers are still the bad guys or whatever. NO flyboys. NO M-Geeks. Erasers. 'Cos I personally think that after we found out the erasers were dead in the 3****rd**** book, it all kinda went downhill. But it all started picking up in the 5****th**** book again (Max and Fang got together! YAY!). Okay, so that is the end of my really long authors note!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Max, Fang, Gazzy, Angel, Iggy or Nudge *Sobs***

**Claimer: I do own Emerald, Chase, Harry, Jake, Poppy and Dreamer *Perks up***

"Increasing wind speed, eighty miles per hour."

_Forget it Losers, I'm not going into the air, _I thought, making myself as small as possible on the floor.

"Eighty five miles per hour, ninety."

_Ugh, Jerks. _I thought.

"One hundred miles per hour."

I had no choice. I would've been in the air soon anyway, if this kept up. As much as I hated giving into them, I had no choice. Slowly I extended my wings, hoping the wind speed wouldn't rip them off. Then I leapt into the air. I got pulled off the floor immediately and flew back about five feet. I tried flapping to go forward, but I wasn't moving.

"One hundred and fifty miles per hour."

_Oh God, too fast, too fast, _I thought miserably. The wind was making my eyes water. Then real tears started pouring down my cheeks as well. _Why me?_

_Curse this stupid wind tunnel, the whitecoats, me. I wish I'd never been born, _I thought.

"Two Hundred miles per hour."

Far too fast. My wings folded and I flew backwards, smashing into the wall. I fell and landed on the ground, about thirty feet below me. I landed on my arm, and tried not to scream in pain.

I curled into a little ball, whimpering. The wind rushed around me, stinging my skin. My wings were still extended, and I prayed they wouldn't be ripped off by the wind. I wanted it to end. I didn't care anymore. I wished I was _dead. _What would happen to my friends if I died? Would Chase take care of them? Any other time I would have cared, but not then. There was a flash of white light, and then my mom was there. Mom, who I hadn't seen since I was about two years old. She was stroking my hair, crying and smiling at the same time.

"Emerald, I'm so proud of you." She whispered.

Then she was vanishing, and I felt like I was falling. I tried screaming her name, but then everything was black. My eyes were closed. I opened them. I was back in the wind tunnel, painfully awake, painfully myself, painfully _alive. _I nearly shrieked. Why can't I just _die? _

"Wind stopping." A voice said, then a different voice said, "Mutant, can you hear me?!"

"BURN IN HELL!" I yelled, really damn pissed.

"You! Take her back to her room!" the voice said. And then an Eraser grabbed my hair, hauled me to my feet, and pulled me towards the door.

**TA DA! First chapter is up! Yayyyy! Okay, so the only person you really heard from in this chapter is Emerald, who's the main character. I think my title's kinda crappy, so if anyone can think of a better one, review. Thanks ******

**IwriteUread.**


	2. Chapter 2

***Sighs* It is a sad thing when the first chapter is longer than the second… But I had a serious case of writer's block when I wrote this. In fact, the first paragraph is annoyingly repetitive. Sorry about that. Next chapters will be better! Pinky promise! (Grabs random kids Pinky finger) Most of this is in Emerald's point of view, but I will give requested points of view. Or rather, **_**try **_**to. Don't know how well it will work out… Without further ado, the disclaimer!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride, which upsets me greatly.**

**Claimer: I do own my own characters and the plot, which I am happy about.**

A cage. Always a cage. No matter what happens during the day in this prison/hellhole where I live. No matter how much mental and physical torture I've been through, at night it's always a cage. Always.

The Eraser threw me into the cage, not caring if I whacked my hurt arm against the side. Which I did. I yelped and tried not to swear in front of five year old Jake, whose cage was beside mine.

"Shut up!" the Eraser snarled, and shoved me so I fell forward onto my hurt arm. Duh. 'Cos _God forbid _I land on something that _didn't _hurt, like my _other _arm. Sheesh, you can't even yell without someone beating the living crap out of you in the school.

"Watch it, Idiot!" I yelled and spat in dog-boy's face. I was rewarded by getting cuffed in the face-hard.

"Leave her alone!" Chase yelled from his cage. The Eraser ignored him.

"You watch it, mutant." Wolf boy bent towards me, and lowered his voice, "I don't want to have to wreak that pretty face." Then he brought a hairy paw up. I thought he was going to slap me again and closed my eyes. But then I felt something soft and warm sliding down my cheek. _Wolf-Boy was stroking my cheek!_ Like I was a cat or dog or something! It was Dreamer who had the frickin' cat DNA, not me! I snapped my eyes open.

"Get your hands-_paws _off me!" I snarled, trying not to shudder, "Do that to me again and I'll rip your head off your shoulders!"

The Erasers smirk turned to a scowl. Then a Whitecoat who had just walked in said, "Colin, leave her for now. You're needed in room three oh seven." "Colin" leered at me, before leaving the room. The Whitecoat stared at the six of us, at me, who was cradling my hurt arm in my good one, at Chase, who was pressed against the bars of his cage, at Poppy, whose face was white and whose eyes were massive, at Dreamer, who was whimpering, holding Harry's hand through the bars of her cage, and then at Jake, who had terror on his face, before following Dog-Boy, but not before turning all the lights off, plunging us into total darkness.

**See what I mean? Basically a filler chapter. Not that good. The other chapters are way, way longer. I can't think of a title. The one I've got at the minute is just me waiting for a review so someone could give me a better name (cough, hint, cough) Well that's me ******

**IwriteUread**


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, big thank yous to everyone who reviewed. I was running around screaming, I was so happy! Apparently I'm not as retarded as I think I am when it comes to writing, so, go me! Moving on….**

**Disclaimer: Obviously, I'm not James Patterson, or I would be writing FANG right now, wouldn't I?**

**Claimer: Because I am not James Patterson, I am sitting on fan fiction writing my own story about Emerald, Chase, Dreamer, Harry, Poppy and Jake. **

As always, it took a couple of minutes for Dreamer's eyes to light up, sending a green light out. She is only 2% cat, after all. The whitecoat's last words were still ringing in my ears. _Leave her for now. For now. _What were they going to do to me? I'm thirteen years old. What could they do?

"Emerald? Emerald?"

"Huh? What?"

"Are you okay?" Chase whispered. We couldn't talk properly, even at night. Erasers patrolled the corridors 24/7.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said. Well, whispered, but you know what I mean. "Arm hurts."

"I'm sure it's broken." Chase said, biting his lip. I look after the five of us, but Chase and Poppy don't need looked after really, so they help me. I'm two months older than Chase, and Poppy's six months younger than Chase. They can take care of themselves.

"Poppy, will you…" Chase said, turning to her.

"Right." She said, reaching her right arm through the bars of her cage. She lost half her left arm when she was seven, after a battle with Erasers went slightly wrong. Not that it makes a difference. She still beats me at rock, paper, scissors. She slowly stretched my arm out and pressed down on the bone. I won't bore you with the details, but finally she lent back and said, "It's not broken, just sprained."

_Whaaat?_ I thought, _It feels like it's about to come off! _

"Wow, I so thought it was broken! The way it was dangling with Emerald came in and Emerald's face just looked all white and stuff and…" I sighed. Welcome to the Harry show. Here are your earplugs. We suggest you take a seat at the back.

"And remember that time I broke my ankle? I remember. Well, of course I remember, I mean, I broke it. It'll be quite hard to forget you broke your own ankle, unless you were like, really, really forgetful. Which I'm not…." _Blah Blah Blah…_

"Emerald, Harry's hurting my ears." Jake said, biting his thumbnail.

"Yes, shut up Harry." Ok, I'm not known for my sympathy, but there you go…

"Well, I'm really tired," Dreamer said, "Do you mind?"

"Nah, it's okay, go to sleep." Chase said, "You look tired."

"Okay, night guys." Dreamer said, then she lay back and closed her eyes, plunging us into darkness again.

***

Soon it was just me and Chase awake. I felt him staring at me. So I stared back. Because I'm just funny that way. We stared at each other for a while, then Chase said, "What?"

"I donno, you were staring at me first." I whispered.

There was a pause, then I whispered, " Do you think we'll ever escape?"

"Well, we do know that it's possible to escape, 'cos someone's already done it. A bunch of times." We both knew who he was talking about. The whitecoats were always complaining about her. Apparently, she's destroyed Itex and kicked countless Whitecoat butt. Two reasons why she's my role model.

"Well if we are going to escape, we need to do it really damn soon." I knew what he was thinking about. About two months ago, a girl of about sixteen was set beside Harry. She never spoke to any of us, never made a sound. Apart from when she screamed in her sleep. She died a month ago. Of insanity. I shuddered.

We sat in silence for a minute. Then I said, "We _will _escape, Chase. I know we will. Someday." He smiled, his green eyes, so much like Dreamer's, only less catlike, lit up, making the dark room lighter. Then he lay down and closed his eyes.

"Night, Chase." I whispered.

"Night, Emerald."

**YESSSS! Finally thought of a proper title! It doesn't make much sense at the minute but it will later on. Hopefully. I was so motivated by all my reviews that I updated in one day! Next chapter coming soon! Peace out,**

**IwriteUread. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, I got some questions asked about the last chapter of this. So, here's the answers!**

**Flockgirl: Dreamer is the only one who is 2% cat. The rest are 2% avian. And about Emerald and Chase…It's kinda like that, but a bit different.**

**Apart from that, I've got nothing interesting to say (apart from thanks to my fabby reviewers! Love you lots!). I know, you're shocked. Okay, disclaimers.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride (Duh)**

**Claimer: I own the plot and my Own Characters.**

I felt like I had only closed my eyes when the door flew open, sending a cold draft in that woke all of us up. I blinked, still half asleep. It was still night, well, dark, which was weird. They usually let us sleep when it's dark. There were two whitecoats, arguing. I hoped they killed each other.

"I don't see why we can't just send Erasers." A female whitecoat with glasses and black hair said.

"They've beaten Erasers once, they can do it again."

"Yes, but I don't see the point of creating six new hybrids, just to beat six children."

It was obvious they were talking about Max and her flock.

"I still don't see why you brought me here, of all places, Dr. Moore."

"We could use these ones. They're younger, but judging by their tests, just as strong, fast and smart."

"No."

"But, Dr. Dwyer…"

"They've been here too long; they won't do anything for us."

_Too Damn right!_

"However, they could come in useful in some ways…" The whitecoat called Dr. Dwyer took a needle out of her pocket, then without warning, she grabbed Harry's arm. Chase and I immediately threw ourselves against our cages, trying to get to Harry, who was whimpering and trying to pull his arm away from that mammoth bit-cow.

The whitecoat bent over Harry, then straightened up, the needle syringe filled with blood.

"Clones." She said, "Take blood samples from all of them except the smaller, blonde one. Then retire them." Then she left, followed by the other whitecoat.

_Retire them. _

I turned to Chase.

"Or we could escape _now_."

***

They were going to kill us. Retire us. Make us extinct. Whatever.

All day they took about ten blood samples from each of us, more from Chase, probably because Dreamer, (who didn't get any blood samples taken from her. Some people just get lucky.) is his sister. Two hours after the last couple of blood samples had been taken, a whitecoat came in holding a clipboard.

"In ten minutes, Erasers will come in and unlock your cages." He said.

"Right." I said, staring right through him.

"You are not to struggle, or try to escape."

"Okay."

"The Erasers will lead you out to the battlefield, where you will be retired."

I nodded mutely, feeling ill and like barfing was seconds away. I glanced at Chase, who was staring straight ahead, absently running his hands through his dirty blonde hair. The whitecoat left. Chase hadn't spoken to any of us since… we found out. Harry hadn't spoken either. He'd been curled up at the back of his cage, crying. I had tried to comfort him, but everytime I opened my mouth I had to shut it quickly before I threw up everywhere. Dreamer had her knees tucked up by her chin, her head ducked so all you could see was her blonde hair. I could feel Jake quivering in the cage next to mine. He turned to me, his big, blue eyes round and terrified.

_What now? _I could see the question etched on his face.

Poppy had fainted after her last blood sample, but she was awake now and was sitting still, her face clammy and pale, which made her red, waist length hair look darker.

SLAM!

"WAHHH!" I jumped about three foot and banged my head on the top of the cage. The Erasers laughed as if this was very amusing.

"Shut up, Scumbag!" I yelled at the nearest one. Probably not a smart move, but whatever.

The Eraser growled and yanked me from my cage. The same thing happened to the rest of my family. One of the Wolf-Boys grabbed my arm and pulled me out of my room. I was trying to stay strong for the younger kids, but I'll admit it, I nearly burst into tears as I was dragged towards my death.

**OOOH, CLIFFY! Sorry about that. Guess what? I'm going to tell you a secret.**

***Warning: this secret contains spoilers!***

**The Flock are coming in the next chapter!!!**

**DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNNNNNNN!**

**Stay tuned.**

**Peace out, **

**IwriteUread.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Okay, first off…Hi!!! Welcome to chapter 5! Think this is the longest chapter so far, not including author's notes, but I'm not sure. Anyway, there's going to be quite a bit of action in this chapter so for you people who loves yourselves some action, good for you! Sooo… Disclaimers!!!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride **_**Blah, Blah, Blah…**_

**Claimer: I is happy 'cos I own mines flock ;)**

We were lead out to some kinda prison yard, where dark sand covered the ground, but even so, it didn't completely hide the blood stains. Jesus, now I felt really ill. Erasers were standing around holding guns, knives, bombs and medieval torture devices. Okay, maybe not the last one… They were all morphed and looked as though Christmas had come early.

_Yeah, well, it's not everyday you get to eat something as delicious as us, _I thought bitterly, _Lots of white meat, great for the heart…_

We huddled around Chase, who was biting his lip.

"So, what's the plan?" Jake said. He sounded exhausted and vulnerable, a little five year old in a "fight to the death" battle.

"Well…" I started. _Plan, Plan, need a plan…_

"There _is _a plan, isn't there?" Poppy said, raising an eyebrow.

"Of course there's a plan! We're going to spilt into twos, try to confuse them. We fight in _self-defence _only. Don't draw attention to yourself…" I wanted to go on, tell all of them how much I love them, tell Chase how I felt about him, but a whitecoat started talking through a speaker system.

"When the clacson sounds, the Erasers will break ranks. You can give up or fight back, but either way they will kill you."

"Okay, Jake, you're with Chase," I murmured quickly, "Dreamer you're with me and Poppy, take Harry." I reached out and took Dreamer's hand. She looked up at me and gave a small smile. A lump came to my throat. _They were being so brave. _All of them. But I knew our chances of surviving were very slim. I would probably never see Jake's lopsided grin again. Hear Dreamer purr in her sleep. Tell Harry to shut up. Play rock, paper, scissors with Poppy. Look into Chase's beautiful green eyes and know how lucky I was that I had someone like him to live my hell of a life with. Never again. The lump was bigger now. I felt like I had swallowed a fistful of clay. Then the clacson went. And all Hell broke loose.

***

The air was suddenly thick with bullets. I pulled Dreamer to the ground and put my hands around my head. Then there was silence. I raised my head slightly. The Erasers had dropped their guns and were running towards us.

"CRAP!!!" I screamed, jack-knifing to my feet and pulling Dreamer.

"Run at the wall!" I yelled, and let go of her hand. We both sprinted at the wall, but I suddenly felt a hairy paw grab my hair, and I got pulled backwards.

"What do ya know, Fast Food." The Eraser jeered. I tried to peel his fingers off my neck, but he wouldn't budge. I saw him raise a knife in the air.

_This is it, _I thought, _I'm going to become Eraser Chow. _I opened my mouth to scream.

"No you don't!" I heard someone yell, then Dreamer ploughed into the Eraser so hard that he feel on the blood stained ground. With a roar, the Eraser leapt to his feet and flew towards Dreamer. He grabbed her throat and held her high in the air. She was screaming like a banshee and kicking, but the Eraser held on.

"You cannot win, mutant!" He yelled.

"Oh yeah? Try us!" I shouted, then jumped as high as I could and kicked him in the face. The Eraser screamed and dropped Dreamer. I grabbed her hand and ran for the wall. Then the wall exploded, spraying bricks everywhere (because that's just how brilliant my life is).

Dreamer and I flew backwards, me swearing and Dreamer screaming. I landed face first on the hard ground and blood exploded from my nose. I looked up. Dreamer was unconscious.

Then I saw six figures against the pale pink sky, flying towards the yard. They flew in, and I saw their faces. I recognised them from the diagrams and photos that covered the labs walls. They were the Flock, and Maximum Ride. _They had come. _

**TA DA!!!! So, I personally think this is the best chapter so far, but tell me what you think!**

**Over and out,**

**IwriteUread**


	6. Chapter 6

**Heyyy everyone!!! Thanks for the reviews!!! Okay, now I look at it, it probably wasn't the longest chapter in the story so far, but I agree with Rainbow Wings that this one was the best. Okay, now I need my charming reviewers help. You see, I have a million and one ideas for further FanFictions. Well, four anyway. And I need YOU guys to help me pick which one should be first (after this one, obviously). Okay, so ideas that I have are…**

**a) A story about Max and Fang's children. The rest of the flock will play a main part in it as well, as will Ella.**

**b) A story about Iggy and Ella's daughter, Melodie. Certain members of the Flock will probably have a tiny part at the end.**

**c) A story about Max and Fang. Max is human, Fang is a Bird-Kid. The rest of the flock will come in near the end. **

**d) The whole flock are human, and are in a band. The whole flock will feature and so will Ella.**

**Thanks so much for your help!!! Now, the Disclaimers!!!**

**Disclaimer: Blah, Blah, Blah, I don't own Maximum Ride, etc.**

**Claimer: I own my flock and the Plot. Which you already know.**

Time seemed to freeze as the Flock landed smoothly on the ground. Everything just-stopped. The Whitecoats stopped, their pens frozen in mid-air (they had been taking notes the whole time. Why? 'Cos they're jerks, that's why). The Erasers had stopped, their jaws open, showing razor sharp teeth that I hoped my family had stayed away from. I looked around, praying. Yes! They were all still alive! Chase had a large, purple bruise on his forehead from being hit over the head with something-or-other. He was holding Jake, who alone seemed to be unhurt. Harry was hunched in a corner, holding his ankle, his face bloodless. Poppy was being held by an Eraser, whose claws were leaving deep cuts up her arms. Everyone stared at Max, who was looking around the yard. Her eyes focused on me, then she winced clutching her head. I cleaned my bleeding and probably broken nose, not wanting to look like a doofus. She nudged a small, blonde girl with baby blue eyes and nodded at me.

_Come with us, be safe._

I leapt about a foot in the air, then remembered the youngest one was a telepath. I looked at the little girl, who gave me a small smile.

_Okay. _I thought back at her. She grinned then muttered something to Max.

_Be ready to run. _The girl thought at me. And if you don't think that's a weird sentence, reread it.

_Okay, _I thought back then, _Wait, What?_

"Now!" Max yelled, then all Hell broke loose.

Again.

***

In a minute or so, most of the Erasers were lying on the ground moaning or fighting losing battles against members of the Flock. I shook Dreamer's shoulder, trying to wake her up. Trust Dreamer to fall unconscious at a time like THIS.

"Hey, do you need some help? 'Cos I mean, we're not doing anything, and she looks like she's not waking up anytime soon."

I looked up. A girl with curly brown hair and big brown eyes was standing in front of me. Behind her was a taller boy with dark hair and eyes.

"Uhh…Yeah." I said lamely.

"I'm Nudge, and this is Fang." She said, extending a hand. I took it and she pulled me to my feet. "He doesn't talk much. Only when he wants to. Max says it gets on her nerves when he doesn't talk because it means you can never get a decent answer out of him unless he feels like giving you one. She says I get on her nerves too because I talk _too _much. But I don't think I talk _that _much. I mean, I only say what comes into my head and-hmph!" Fang had put his hand over her mouth. She peeled his fingers apart and said, "What's your name?"

"Emerald." I said, still in shock from that amount of Word Spew, which was way worse than anything I had ever experienced with Harry.

Fang looked at me and said, "You'll get used to it."

"Fang! Nudge! C'mon, we need to go!" Max yelled over from the gaping hole that used to be a concrete wall. She was supporting Harry, whose ankle was bent awkwardly.

"Right, we're coming!" Nudge yelled back. She turned to me. "D'you have wings?" she asked.

"I do…" I said, glancing at Dreamer.

"Fang, you'll have to carry her." Nudge said, pointing at Dreamer.

"Don't worry, she's really light." I said as he picked her up.

"So, where're we going?" I asked Nudge as we ran towards Max and the others.

"So far, just up." Nudge said.

"You mean, _flying_?!" I said.

"Duh."

"B-but I've never flown in my life! I mean, unless you count wind tunnels. Which I don't."

Nudge grinned at my expression.

"You'll be fine."

Famous Last Words.

**TA DA!!!! Again, please help me decide which Fan Fic I should do next. I love you all!**

**IwriteUread. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Heyyyyy Peoples!!! Thanks for the lovely reviews I got for the last chapter!!! Thanks a lot! I got asked a couple of questions about that chapter and those questions will be answered in a later chapter, so I hope you don't mind waiting (: Sooo… chapter 7! And remember, vote for which story I should write next!!! Disclaimers!**

**Disclaimer: Whatever. I don't want to own Maximum Ride away…*Sobs while reading series for 19****th**** time***

**Claimer: I own my flock and my plot so HA HA!!!**

"Into the forest!" Max yelled, pointing through the broken wall into the dense trees. As we started running towards the trees, I said to Nudge "Who did _that_?" Referring to the Gimassive hole in the School's wall.

Nudge giggled.

"Oh, that was Iggy and Gazzy. Max was really angry. She's determined to find out where they hide all the explosives. But I don't think she will."

I stopped dead. _Explosives?_

Nudge stopped too, "What?"

"They steal explosives?" I said faintly.

"Oh no! Don't be silly! They don't _steal _them." Nudge said, blinking. I breathed out, then started running again.

"They make them." Nudge sad matter-of-factly, as I tripped over a tree root.

_Good Lord, _I thought.

"Um, can we _move_?" a tall, blonde boy asked, "I hear Wolf-Boys." Now that I concentrated, I could hear the Erasers too. The swearing, the gunshots.

"We're nearly there!" Max yelled over her shoulder. I turned to Nudge.

"Um, where's _there_?"

"Cliff ledge." Nudge said, completely unconcerned, "We're gonna jump."

"WHAT? WHY?" I screamed, "You mean to say you sprung us out of the school so we could KILL OURSELVES?"

"You're not going to kill yourself." Nudge said, "'Cos we're going to fly away."

"Nudge, weren't you listening? I-CANNOT-FLY!"

"Consider escaping from the school your first flying lesson." Nudge grinned, "I'm Nudge, and I'll be your instructer." Then she took my hand as we burst through the trees. There was a clearing, ending in a rocky cliff edge. I looked over the edge.

"Oh, look, there's even some trees to impale myself on!" I said in false excitement. Nudge laughed.

"You're not going to die." She said, walking to stand beside me. "Trust me."

I hesitated, then nodded and took her hand.

"Okay Em- is it okay if I call you Em? You know, short for Emerald…"

"Um, Nudge? Can we get on with it?"

"Oh, yeah. Okay, so on the count of three, we're going to jump over the edge.

"Okay-Wait, what?"

"One." Nudge said, gripping my hand tightly.

"Nudge, this isn't funny! Let go!" I yelled, trying to unpeel her fingers.

"Two." She continued determinately.

"NUDGE, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, LET GO OF MY FRICKIN' HAND!" She was like a Bloody Python.

"THREE!" She yelled, before leaping off the cliff. So of course I had to follow. Because I didn't have a choice.

**Okay, nothing much to say hear. Except review (: Over and Out,**

**IwriteUread.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hello, oh brilliant reviewing ones! Thanks for reviewing the last chapter! It was a bit of a cliffy, but it will no longer be after this chapter!**

**Emerald: No crap, Sherlock…**

**Me: Shut up Emerald, I'm busy.**

**Emerald: I thought you wanted me to do the disclaimers?**

**Me: I do but…**

**Emerald: Well then I think you should let me becau-**

**Me: For God's sake, just get on with it!**

**Emerald: IwriteUread does not own the flock. James Patterson does.**

**Me: The claimer, the claimer!**

**Emerald: Oh right, yeah! She does however, own the plot and, unfortunately, me.**

**Me: Lovely! Now for chapter 8!**

"WAHHH!!!" I screamed as Nudge and I flew downwards.

"OH MY GOD NUDGE YOU BLOODY IDIOT YOU'VE JUST SINGLE HANDEDLY MURDERED ME WHAT WERE YOU THINKING YOU ASSHOLE?!"

"I was actually thinking we could extend our wings right about now!" Nudge yelled back.

"WHY SHOULD I DO ANYTHING YOU SAY?!" I screamed.

For anyone who wants to know, this is what Nudge sounds like when she loses it.

"BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T, I'LL SLAP YOU SILLY, BUT YOU WON'T FEEL IT BECAUSE YOU WILL BE DEAD!!!"

"Okay, calm yourself." I muttered, and Nudge gave me the evil eye. So I extended my wings before she really did slap me.

Fourteen foot across, and a deep, emerald green. That's what my wings look like. They're were I got my name from. I'm pretty sure it's Bird of Paradise DNA, and I think I'm the first and only avian American who doesn't have hawk DNA. Aren't I _special? _Not really, but still.

I closed my eyes, bracing myself for the splat. _But it didn't come. _

I opened my eyes. Instead of getting bigger, the trees were shrinking, becoming one big mass of green. The wind was whipping my shoulder length dark brown hair around my face. I reached one hand over my shoulder and felt the edge of one of my wings. _Up, down, up, down._

Oh. My. God. I was _flying, _just like I had dreamed for everyday of my life since I was two, and looked out of the lab window at the endless blue sky. Only this wasn't a dream. I was flying through the sky, miles and miles away from the place I had lived in for the last eleven years of my life. Finally, after eleven years, I was _free. _

***

"WAHHH!" I heard someone scream. I spun around in the air, ready to dive after whoever had just fallen out of the sky. But it was just Dreamer, screaming and belting every inch of Fang she could reach.

"Who the Hell are you?!" She screamed, clawing at him with her abnormally long, sharp nails, "Put me back on the ground right now, or I swear to God I will rip your spleen out through your nose!"

"Jesus, someone control her!" Fang yelled, trying to hold her while avoiding getting kicked in the face. Chase and I flew over to them.

"Dreamer, calm down." Chase said, and I stroked her hair and said, "It's us, Emerald and Chase."

"Oh." Dreamer said, then she spotted Chase's tawny wings and my wings, "OH!" Then she spotted the flock, who were watching her with mild interest, "OH!"

"Yes, kid, oh. We get it." The tall, blonde boy said, eyebrows raised, "Anything else?"

"We escaped!" Dreamer said happily, her green eyes shining.

"She's a smart one." A small boy with ruffled blonde hair and blue eyes said, "What an observation. 'We escaped'. Like, Duh."

"Speaking of smarts, what were you and Iggy thinking, blowing a hole in the school's wall?" Max said, flying closer to the boy who had spoken. I guessed this was Gazzy.

"Max, the cave's coming up!" the youngest girl said over fro where she was flying with Nudge.

"Okay, thanks Angel!" Max said, swerving left, "By the way, this discussion isn't over Iggy, Gazzy."

I looked upwards, wanting to see the sun. I had heard the whitecoats discussing it, and I wanted to see this big "fireball".

_Uh, I wouldn't do that. _A voice in my head said.

_Angel? _I thought.

_Hi Emerald. _Angel thought at me.

_Why can't I look at the sun? _I asked.

_Well, unless you want to go blind, like Iggy…_

_Iggy's blind? _I asked, shocked.

_Yep._

_But Nudge said that he makes explosives! _I thought.

_Yeah, he does._

_But he's blind!_

_So…?_

I left it at that, wondering if this could get any weirder. The voice in my head seemed to giggle.

_Wait 'till you see me turn into a bird._

**There you go!!! Another chapter! Quite long this time!!! Read and Review and vote for next story!**

**Emerald: She doesn't ask for much, does she?**

**Me: See ya!**

**IwriteUread.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Greetings reviewers!!!!**

**Emerald: You're weird!**

**Me: God, I've hardly started the authors note and already you're taking the piss…**

**Emerald: That's mean!**

**Me: I know! Sooo… Thanks for last chapters reviews!!! This chapter gets a bit confusing towards the end and there's a cliffy, but apart from that I think I've penned a kick ass chapter! Well, that's just my opinion…**

**Emerald: I thought it was good too, Evie…**

**Me: Stop it! I'm still angry with you! And **_**I'm **_**going to do the disclaimers, so HA! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Max Ride. It would be nice to swap places with James Patterson for one day though. Please, God?**

**Claimer: I own the plot and my characters. Lucky me.**

**Emerald: What, am I not good enough or something???**

**Me: On with the story!**

_____________________________________________________________________

A couple of minutes later we arrived at the cave, near Lake Mead.

"Okay, let's go!" Nudge said, turning around.

"Nudge, wait!" I yelled hovering in mid-air with Poppy, Jake, Harry and Chase.

"What?"

"When you were being my flying instructor, you left out one teeny-tiny detail," I said, hands on hips.

"Oh yeah? Like what?"

"Like how to _land_."

"Oh yeah, forget about that." She said, flying closer to me, "It's not that hard. Tuck your wings in, and dive towards the ledge. Then pull your wings out at the last second. Don't be worried. The worst thing you can do is a face-plant."

"Okay…" I said, trying to work out what she just said.

"Well, let's go!" Nudge said, before diving. I turned to Chase.

"Have you ever heard of a plan where so many things could go wrong?"

***

I didn't do a face-plant, more a knee-plant turned face-plant. I got onto the ledge, ran to fast trying to stop myself, skidded onto my knees and then Jake collided with me, which made me do the face-plant.

"Don't worry, you'll get it." Max said, wiping tears of laughter out of her eyes while I spat out dirt. I stood and examined my bleeding knees.

"Food!" Max said, diving into her backpack.

"At last." The tall, blonde boy said.

"Not for you, Smartass, for those six." Max rolled her eyes as she passed us food we'd never _heard _of, much less eaten. Our diet at the school had consisted of bread and water.

"Nice try, Iggy." Angel said.

"What are potato chips?" Poppy asked, holding a packet up.

"I'll show you." Iggy said, reaching forward.

"No, you will not!" Max said, grabbing his wrist, "You will eat with the rest of the Flock. But I might not even give you and Gazzy anything…"

"Great." Fang muttered, "Welcome to Lecturing 101…" Max ignored him.

"Why don't you two complete _Numskulls _tell me why you thought blowing a hole in the school's wall would be a good idea?"

"_Technically, _we didn't do anything wrong." Gazzy said.

"Yeah, you _said _ we needed some way to get into the school." Iggy added.

"I meant _without being seen_!" Max said, wearing an almost pained expression.

"Did you say that? Did anyone say that?" Iggy said, throwing his arms out.

Max sighed.

"I guess I could have been a _little _more specific."

"And…" Gazzy said, his enjoyment clear on his face.

"It was a very good idea."

"And…" Iggy said, grinning.

"You _will _get food tonight."

"And…"

Max blinked. "And what?"

"You'll give us extra portions."

"Uh-huh." Max said, eyebrows raised, "I'm apologising, not stupid."

Dreamer giggled loudly. Max stared at her, slight surprise on her face.

"Oh…er…" Dreamer said, going pink, "it's just… I thought… That was pretty funny…" Her voice died and she hung her head. Max smiled at her.

"It's Dreamer, right?" She asked. Dreamer nodded, coming over all "shy".

"That's a nice name." Max said, smiling kindly at her. "What about the rest of you?" she said, turning to me.

"I'm Emerald." I said, not believing that I was talking to _the _Maximum Ride, "The small blonde boy's Jake. Tall blonde boy's Chase. The taller girl with the red hair is Poppy. And Harry's the one with black hair."

"And what's your story?"

I shrugged. "Nothing interesting. Grew up at the school. Nearly got killed. Escaped. Blah, Blah, Blah."

"What about your parents?"

_Oh no._

"_**C'mon, Emmy, really big blow this time." Mom said, smiling.**_

"_**She's not gonna blow them out mom. Just let me do it."**_

"_**Charlotte, tell me. How many candles are on the cake?"**_

"_**Two."**_

"_**And how old are you?"**_

"_**Nine."**_

"_**It's your birthday in five months. Today's your little sister's birthday. Let her blow out the candles."**_

"_**Yeah, Charlie." I grinned and stuck my tongue out at her. **_

_**Ding, Dong. The doorbell? At half five in the morning? **_

"_**Good God, who could that be?" Mom said, standing up, "Keep trying with those candles, Emerald."**_

"_**Okay Mom."**_

_**Mom went into the hall while I continued to attempt to blow out my candles, watched by a sulking Charlotte.**_

"_**WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?! DON'T YOU DARE!" A door slammed.**_

"_**What the-" Charlotte said, looking up.**_

"_**KIDS!" Mom ran into the kitchen, her face white, then before either of us could speak, she grabbed me and Charlotte and pulled us out of the kitchen and upstairs. She pulled us into the master bedroom and started barricading us in.**_

"_**Mom, what's going on?" Charlotte said, as mom plied a couple of boxes in front of the door.**_

"_**Charlotte, it's THEM!" Mom screeched, her eyes wide.**_

_**Charlotte gasped in terror, then screamed as the door flew open. In seconds Mom had flung us behind her, and extended her fifteen foot, tan wings. Beside me, Charlotte mahogany wings spread out and nearly hit me in the head.**_** (Quick A/N: Didn't see that coming, did ya?)**

"_**Don't be stupid, girl." A voice that sounded like honey came from a man in his early twenties, "We only want the child."**_

"_**YOU'RE NOT TAKING EITHER OF THEM!" Mom screamed, not moving.**_

_**The man raised a gun.**_

"_**Have it your way, then."**_

_**Suddenly, Charlotte threw her hand in front of my eyes. I heard a huge bang, a thump, then Charlotte screaming.**_

"_**NO! MOM! YOU JERKS! YOU BASTERDING JERKS!"**_

_**Then rough hands were grabbing me, thrusting me head first into a rough sack. Then…Then….**_

Black.

**Emerald: WAAAAAA!!!! I hated that chapter!**

**Me: You would….**

**Well, like I said, this will all make sense in the next chapter!!! I promise! In the meantime, read, review and vote! Over and Out,**

**IwriteUread**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hiya Peps!!!!**

**Emerald: Wow, that greeting was uncool in soooo many ways…**

**Me: Emerald, shut it.**

**Emerald: Wow, that comeback was uncool in sooo many ways…**

**Me: Ignoring, Ignoring… So, thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter! This is the chapter were everything will be… somewhat explained. So yeah, the disclaimers… Emerald?**

**Emerald: IwriteUread does not own Maximum Ride, because she is a loser with nothing better to do with her life…**

**Me: Emerald, shut it and do the claimer! (I should have kidnapped Angel)**

**Emerald: She owns me and all my friends, and the plot. Go her.**

**Me: So, onward!**

"What happened?"

"Is she okay?"

"Chase, what's going on?"

Pain, lots of pain. And voices. Different voices, all speaking at the same time.

"She had a Flashback. It's one of those great slash crap abilities. When she hears or feels certain things, like what you just said, she has a flashback to a memory that reminds her of it. She can control it sometimes, like flashbacks of the school, because she has so many memories of it. I'm guessing that when you said," Chase muttered the next word, "she had a very powerful flashback, something that's only happened to her once in her life."

"And that's why she screamed and fainted?"

"Yeah."

Now I had enough consciousness to be embarrassed. _Of course, I had to scream._

I suddenly felt a warm hand on my shoulder.

"Emerald?" a voice said, then I realised it was Max's, "Emerald, I'm really sorry. I didn't know that would happen…"

I opened my eyes, and Max's face flew into focus. Her face was white, and she was biting her lip.

"You couldn't have." My voice sounded weak and faint, "I should have told you sooner."

"You sure you're okay?" Nudge said, looking concerned, "D'you need some water?"

"Water would be great, Nudge." Chase said, putting his arms around me and lifting me into a kind of sitting position. Nudge gave him a dazzling smile and dived into her backpack. Chase hugged me and whispered to me.

"Em? Was it really bad?" he whispered.

I nodded into his chest, but it wasn't really that bad anymore. Nudge handed me a bottle of water, and I drained it. I leant back, and saw Flock staring at me.

"What?" I said, my voice back to normal.

"That was…interesting." Iggy said.

"That's one word for it." Fang said.

Max smacked them both in the head.

***

My Flock and I went to sleep shortly after, even though it was probably only around midday. Not that it made a difference. We still woke up about every half-hour. Dreams. Of the school. After waking up for the forth time, I gave up and decided to go for a fly. I loved the feeling of being weightless, flying in ever widening circles. I was completely alone. Max's Flock were looking for food and my flock were back at the cave. Or, so I thought.

"Emerald?"

I yelped loudly and leapt about three foot. And yes, that is possible in mid-air.

"Harry, don't do that! You scared the crap out of me!"

"Sorry." He said, shrugging, his grey wings working hard to keep him hovering.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, "You're meant to be back in the cave."

"Had a bad dream." He muttered.

We flew in silence for a while, then I heard him say quietly, "Emerald?"

"Yeah?"

"Are we…Are we free?"

Hmmm… There was a knotty little question. On one hand, Max had already told us we could go off and do whatever we want when _she _said we could. I didn't know what she was planning, and I was pretty sure she wasn't gonna tell me anytime soon.

On the other hand, we weren't in cages. We were flying in the sky, not in a wind tunnel or other such crap. We weren't hooked up to treadmills, blood pressure cuffs or heart monitors. We weren't imprisoned. Sooo…

"Yes." I said finally.

"For how long?"

"For," I paused, thinking. Finally, I got what I hoped would be a sensible answer.

"For the Foreseeable Future."

***

_**YOU'RE NOT RUNNING FAST ENOUGH, MUTANT!" The Whitecoat screamed at me, making the treadmill go faster.**_

"_**I'm- going-as fast as- I can!" I yelled, panting and trying to draw breath.**_

_**And then he was whipping me. Again and again and again…**_

I woke up with a start. More stupid nightmares. And this time it was actually at night. I saw the night sky, and then I heard a voice.

"Why'd you bring them?" Fang asked quietly. Gee, I wonder who he was talking about?

"I-I donno." Max whispered, "The Voice told me to go to the School, and look for another group of Bird-Kids. It said something like… Like we had to keep them with us, like they would come in useful later on or something."

What the Hell? Who's The Voice? I couldn't worry about that now, I was too tired. My eyes closed…

***

"Okay, you guys need some proper clothes." Max said the next morning. I looked down at my hospital dress, which was covered in mud and blood stains. Maybe she had a point.

"OMG, OMG MAX! Does this mean we get to go shopping? 'Cos I saw a little mall around here yesterday, and it looked like it could have clothes shops in it! Please, please, please, please, please Max?" Nudge said, looking delighted.

Max bit her lip. "Fine, we'll go now."

"Now!!! Yay! This is brilliant! I can help you and Poppy pick out clothes, Emerald! This is gonna be so much fun!"

***

We were flying above the trees, the twelve of us in our own little groups. For some reason, Gazzy had insisted on carrying Dreamer, even though she was almost the same weight as him, and they were scrolling through Iggy's Ipod. **(Quick A/N: It says in the forth book that Iggy has an Ipod. If you didn't notice, scrape that crud out of** **your eyes and go read The Final Warning again (even though it's the most crappy one in the series) Sorry for the interruption.)** I kept getting bits of their conversation flying back to me.

"Who's Queen?" Dreamer said.

"Oh, their a really good band. Listen." Gazzy said, putting one of the headphones in Dreamer's ear and the other in his own.

I flew forwards to fly with Poppy and Nudge, who was plaiting Poppy's hair.

"You're hair is so great, Poppy!" Nudge said, her voice full of excitement. She was so anxious to get to the mall, she sounded like she'd had too much sugar.

"Thanks!" Poppy said, "I like yours!"

"Nah, yours is better," Nudge said, "It all straight and red and down to your waist. Max won't let me grow my hair too much. She says it's too convenient for an Eraser to tear out." She grinned at me, then narrowed her eyes, "Hey, how come Poppy's hair is so long and yours only reaches your shoulder?"

"Oh, that's because she nicked a knife from an Eraser and hacked it off a month ago." Poppy said, laughing. "I thought the Whitecoats were gonna faint form shock when they came in and saw her hacking away."

Nudge rolled her eyes at me. "You are _so _like Max."

I grinned at her, then flew over to Max. Gazzy and Dreamer were both singing now, something called "We will rock you." Max smiled at them, then saw me.

"Hey," She said.

"Hi." I said back.

"So, what other abilities do you guys have?" Max asked me after a pause.

"Well, I have my brilliant 'ability'." I said, using my fingers to make air quotes, "Chase can, like, melt metal and stuff with his eyes."

"Really? How does that work?"

"He just looks at metal and pictures it melting." I shrugged, "Dreamer has amazing balance and can land on her feet at eighty feet drops. Poppy can run really, really fast. Jake can talk to birds. Harry can create force fields."

"Awesome." Max said, then groaned, "Great, I can see the mall coming up."

"What's a mall anyway?"

"A building full of shops and people, most of them preppy teenagers." She said. I couldn't help noticing that she glanced towards Fang as she said this. But I pretended I hadn't noticed.

"Max, is that…" Nudge yelled.

"Going down!" Max moaned, then, like the super cool mutants that we were, we all flew downwards.

**Very, very long chapter. Read and review, and there's only one more day to decide what story I should write next. So please, please vote.**

**Emerald: Just vote, she's getting desperate…**

**Over and out, next chappie coming soon!**

**IwriteUread.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Heyyy peoples! Emerald is asleep in her cardboard box so I can finally do an author's note without any interruptions! So, the story you voted for to do as my next fan fiction was the one about Iggy and Ella's daughter. I already have some really good ideas so, yeah. **

**Emerald: Morning!**

**Me: I don't own Maximum Ride or any of the characters. I own my plot and OC's. Onward!**

The mall was exactly as Max described it. Full of clothes shops. And the clothes shops were full of people. And most of those people were preppy teenagers. Some girls were raising their eyebrows at mine, Poppy and Dreamer's outfits. Apparently hospital gowns were not "in". One girl muttered loudly to her friend "They must have escaped from the Loony Bin." And the two of them dissolved into giggles. My hands curled into fists by my sides. We walked through the mall. A lot of girls were looking at Fang, Iggy and Chase with interest.

"Oh! Whoops! I'm very sorry!"

I turned around. A black girl with black hair pulled into a side ponytail was standing in front of Chase, paper bags on the floor. She was wearing a very short red skirt and a red top that showed her flat stomach.

"I was away off in my own world there. Didn't see you."

"That's okay," Chase said, smiling, "Here, let me help you." To my horror, he bent down and started picking her many bags up.

"I'm Saskia." The girl said, "What's your name?"

"Mark." Chase said, standing up and handing her bags back to her.

"Well, it was nice to meet you." Saskia said with a smile, "Maybe I'll see you around."

"Yeah." Chase said. Saskia walked away, her red high heels clicking loudly. I bit my lip and tried to repress the urge to rip her eyeballs out of her skull. I saw that Nudge was scowling at her too, her arms folded. Apparently I wasn't the only one who wanted dear Saskia to die a very painful death.

_Anything you want to tell me, Emerald?_

_Angel, get out of my head! _I mentally shouted at her

_You like Chase._

_Duh. _I thought, then I realised that I had just told a six year old who I liked. Crap. _You won't tell anyone, will you?_

_Wouldn't dream of it. _She thought. I looked at her, and she grinned at mimed zipping her lips. I hope she meant it.

***

I found out quickly that I really, really, REALLY hate shopping, a hatred that was apparently shared by some members of the Flock.

"Kill. Me. Now." Iggy muttered, scowling. Fang growled, Gazzy moaned and Max muttered something unintelligible under her breath.

"Oh my God, Emerald, you NEED to try this on!" Nudge said, throwing a green long sleeved top at my head. I grabbed it and spotted my flock behind her, looking like walking clothes shops.

"Nudge, what did I tell you about skinny jeans?" Max said, holding up a pair of pants that was on top of Poppy's pile.

"That they make everything including breathing hard to do and we won't be able to do roundhouse kicks while wearing a pair of them." Nudge muttered, "But Max, I really think that…"

"And this top is way too expensive," Max cut her off, taking a blue top off Jake's pile.

"But Max, it would really bring out his eyes!" Nudge moaned.

"Nudge, I'm not paying four hundred dollars for a hoodie."

Nudge shrugged. "Fair enough."

"Emerald, how about you try on that top?" Angel said, "I think we might need a smaller size, but I'm not sure."

Okay, but where?" I asked.

"There's changing rooms over there." Gazzy said, pointing to the other side of the shop.

"I'll take your backpack." Chase said. I smiled as I handed him it. He grinned back and started talking to Nudge. Angel, Poppy and I walked to the other side of the shop.

***

Wow, Emerald! You look great!" Poppy said as I came out of the changing room.

"Really?" I asked, staring at myself in the mirror. "You don't think it's too…green, do you?"

"No! I mean, it would look awful on me, but it's really nice on you. I makes your eyes really big and brown."

"My eyes _are _brown, Poppy." Had she finally lost it?

"I know, but they make them look even browner."

"Is that a word?" I asked, laughing. "So, I'll get this then. It's ten dollars, do ya think that's cheap enough?"

"I think it's cheaper than most of the stuff in here." Poppy said, checking the price tag. I looked at Angel, who was looking at her feet, biting her lip.

"What, do ya not like it?" I asked, bending down.

"No, no, it's lovely." She said, "Are you gonna pay for it now?"

"Yeah." I went back into the changing rooms and pulled my own top back on. I came out again.

"Poppy, will you pay for this? I wanna talk to Chase." I asked her.

"Sure." She said, taking the top. I looked at Angel, "Have you seen Chase?"

"Yeah, he's over there with…with Nudge." Angel said, pointing towards some clothes racks. There was something about the way she wasn't meeting my eyes, the way her cheeks went slightly pink. I ignored, deciding I would get it out of her in a minute. But I really needed my backpack. I walked over to the clothes rack. I could hear noises and see them moving. They were probably planning to jump out at me. Losers. I pulled the clothes rack back.

Chase and Nudge were both there alright. My backpack was sitting in a corner. Everything was exactly as I expected it. Apart from the fact that Chase and Nudge were glued together at the lips. That I did not see coming.

***

I felt as if I was falling down a very deep well. _Chase and Nudge and Chase and Nudge and Chase…_

Before I knew it, I had turned around and was running towards Max, Iggy, Gazzy, Fang, Harry and Jake, who obviously found shopping as boring as I did. Max looked slightly surprised.

"Emerald, what's wrong?"

"Um, nothing. I've got a terrible headache." I said quickly, and was glad to hear that my voice sounded calm and even. "I'm going to go back to the cave. Meet you there later." And then I marched out of the shop, out of the mall. I had never been so angry. In the couple of days I had known her, I'd really liked Nudge. She seemed funny, optimistic to the point of being slightly irritating, and bubbly. But now I realised that all she really was was an annoying little kid with not enough brains to fill a teaspoon. **(Quick A/N: Emerald does not mean any of this. She has anger issues. Emerald: I DO NOT!) **I practically sprinted out of the mall, ignoring the curious looks I got from the groups of laughing girls. I ran into the car park, round the back of the mall, made sure no one was looking, then spread my wings and flew into the air.

**All done, next chapter coming really soon!**

**Emerald: I was soooooooooooooooo angry with those two then. But I'm alright now because I have…**

**Me: NOOOOOOOOOOO! *Hits Emerald over the head with a frying pan* YOU ARE NOT TO GIVE ANY SPOILERS! ARE WE CLEAR?**

**Emerald: Uhhh… what happened?**

**Me: Lovely! Next chapter coming soon! Peace!**

**IwriteUread.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Hello peoples! Emerald?**

**Emerald: What?**

**Me: I've got something to tell you.**

**Emerald: What?**

**Me: It may give you a shock.**

**Emerald: Get on with it!**

**Me: YouMightBeAMarySue!**

**Emerald: WHAT? NOOOOOOO! *Falls to ground cursing like a pirate on steroids***

**Me: *Still standing but cursing like a pirate on steroids.* £%&*! Okay, I am actually serious, reviewers. I read a guide about Mary-Sues and I think I may have accidentally created one. Please, at least tell me that I haven't, even if you're lying through your teeth. Emerald? Disclaimers?**

**Emerald: She doesn't own Max Ride. She owns the plot, and Me, who-who might be a-a Mary Sue.**

**Me: Don't worry. If you are one, I'll give you a life threatening injury that leaves you seriously deformed. 'Kay?**

**Emerald: *Whimpers***

I was flying in circles, near the cave at Lake Mead. Ever widening circles, over and over again. Just thinking. About Chase. And Nudge. And Chase and Nudge. I felt sickened, like I had just watched the guy I loved kissed my friend's face off. Oh wait, that was because I _had_.

"Hey."

I whipped around in the sky. Chase was hovering in front of me, his blonde hair being thrown in front of his face when the wind blew. He didn't bother to brush it back. Maybe he thought it made him look hot or something. I tried not to laugh, then looked properly at him and realised that it did in fact make him look hot.

_No. Bad Emerald, _I told myself, _you're pissed with him, stop going on about his hair!_

"Why'd you run off like that?" He asked.

"I had a headache." I said, not looking at him or his hair.

"Uh-huh." Chase said, raising his eyebrows, "Normally when you get a headache, you're meant to _lie down, _not fly in circles."

"You can't tell me what to do." I snapped. Chase eyebrows rose higher.

"What's your problem?"

"None of your business." I snarled. Chase's eyes narrowed. Oh, why did they have to be so _green? _

"Can I talk to you?" He asked.

"You appear to be doing so right now, Kid." His hands clenched into fists. His hates being called Kid, Child, Young, anything like that. I grinned and mentally patted myself on the back.

"I mean in one of the caves." He said, pointing towards the caves.

I sighed. "This better be quick."

We flew down and landed, both of us stumbling a bit. We still hadn't got the hang of landing. When we'd both stopped, Chase turned to me.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought we already agreed it was none of you business." I said, folding my arms.

"Emerald, I'm not stupid."

I widened my eyes, "Seriously? Good Grief, and there's me thinking…"

"Emerald." Chase snarled.

I turned away from him. "Rack your brains, Chase. It should only take around two seconds."

"I don't get it; you were fine until we were in the mall…" Chase muttered, then his eyes went wide. "Oh."

"Caught on, have you?" I said coldly.

"But, but, I've never seen you show any signs of you liking me before." Chase said.

I don't know what it was, but right then I snapped.

"WELL YOU SHOULD HAVE OPENED YOUR EYES!" I shouted at him. Tears were smarting in my eyes. I looked him full in the face, and nearly was sick. He was _smirking. _And I could tell he was trying to hold his laughter.

"Honestly, Emerald, 'You should have opened your eyes'? No offence, but that's the cheesiest thing I've ever heard."

"NO OFFENCE?!" I screamed, and before I knew it, I had picked up a rock and chucked it at his head as hard as I could. It just missed him.

"Holy crap! Emerald, are you stupid?!" He yelled, his face reddening.

"AM _I_ STUPID?!" I screamed, picking up another rock and throwing it. It hit him in the side of the head. I hope I gave him brain damage.

"HEY!" He yelled, and then he picked up a rock and threw it. It hit my shoulder. It actually hurt quite a lot.

"I HATE YOU!" I screamed.

"I HATE YOU MORE!" Chase yelled back. But I didn't listen. I had already leapt off the side off the cliff.

***

I flew for a couple of minutes, before landing ungracefully on one of the larger branches of a tree.

_Angry _didn't cover it. I was furious. I was livid. I was…

Oh god, I was miserable, I was really, really miserable. I kept seeing Chase's face. Laughing at me. Shouting at me. Kissing Nudge. There was nothing else for it. I sat down on the branch, put my head in my hands, and howled.

**All done!**

**Emerald:*Sniffs***

**Me: Get over yourself. Chances are you are not a Mary-Sue.**

**Emerald: But what if I am?**

**Me: Then you'll be in a car crash.**

**Emerald: (Whispers) Help me.**

**Me: Okay, so Read and Review.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Heyyy friends!!! **

**Emerald: WHATDIDTHEYSAYWHATDIDTHEYSAY!!!!**

**Me: Well, they did seem to think you were a **_**bit **_**of a Mary-Sue. Shadowleaf264 and Jennedy, you were a big help with this. Thanks!**

**Emerald: NOOOOOOO! Now I'm going to be in a car crash and have to get a leg amputated or something!**

**Me: Emerald, don't worry. I've got something planned out…**

**Emerald: I don't like the way you're grinning…**

**Me: Do the claimers, Emerald.**

**Emerald: Evie doesn't own Max Ride. She owns my flock and the plot. Now will you tell me what the Heck's going on?**

**Me: In time, Emerald, in time…**

10 minutes…20 minutes…30 minutes…

After a while, I lost count of how long I'd been sitting on that stupid branch, sobbing my eyes out. Once I had started, I didn't seem to be able to stop. I felt like I was about to throw up. Suddenly the branch sagged. I turned around so fast that my limb brown hair whipped my face, thinking _Erasers!_

"Hey." Iggy said.

"Oh, hi." I said, wiping the tears off my face and trying to control my voice, which was all high pitched and wimpy and making me feel like a complete nerd.

"Can I join you?" He asked.

"Sure, pull up a tree." I said, smiling slightly despite how crap I felt.

"You left your clothes at the mall." He said, holding up a bag.

"Oh, thanks." I said lamely. I wanted to think of something funny and interesting to say. But my mind was completely blank. There were probably a couple of cobwebs in there.

"What happened back there?" He asked, sitting beside me, "It's just you took off pretty quickly."

"Uh, yeah." I said, hanging my head, brain still full of cobwebs.

There was a pause, then Iggy said, "You're upset." It was a statement, not a question.

"No I'm not." I said, stubbornly.

"Yes, you are."

"How am I?"

"Well, for a start, your voice is slightly more high pitched than normal," Iggy said, "You're sitting stiffly on this branch, and," he touched my arm briefly, "Yep. Your temperature's slightly higher 'cos you're lying to me about how you feel." **(Quick A/N: This is probably kind of OCC for Iggy, but it's the only stuff I could think of) **Good grief, how did he know all this? There was a pause. Finally I said, "Are you sure you're not just pretending to be blind?"

Iggy laughed and held up his hands, "Deadly serious, I promise!" I laughed as well. Iggy, in those four statements, had made me feel better.

"We're all up at the cave, if you're coming back." Iggy said, standing up.

"You're leaving?" I said, sounding like a wimpy little baby.

"Yep. Sorry. Bombs don't make themselves, you know."

I laughed again.

"I'm here if you need to talk." Iggy said, touching my shoulder briefly. My stomach twisted into complicated knots. Then he leapt off the tree and flew away, leaving me with feelings I didn't have words for.

***

"All I'm saying is, I'm not sure you know what you really want." Angel said, picking a blackberry of its branch. Max had sent the two of us to look for food, and we were discussing…certain things.

"Angel, I know exactly what I want, and it is Chase's head on a stick." I said, pricking myself on a thorn. I pulled it out of my finger and examined the cut. Not too serious. It was only a thorn, after all.

"No, Emerald, I don't think that's what you want." Angel said seriously, blinking her blue eyes at me.

"Angel, it is." I snarled, "So build a bridge and get over it. On second thoughts, why am I even discussing this with you? You're a bloody six year old!"

Angel scowled at me, and I realised what Max meant when she said that dear Angel was 50% gumdrops and rainbows, and 50% evil genius.

"Emerald, I've tried to help you. I've talked to Chase. I've talked to Nudge. I've tried to get the three of you to wise up and get over yourselves. But if this is the thanks I'm going to get, you can sort it out yourselves." And then she turned around and marched through the trees back to where the Flock had made a small camp. I sat down on a boulder and put my head in my hands. How come when I'm in a horrid mood to one or two people I take it out on everyone? Everyone except Angel and sometimes Iggy had been giving me a wide berth over the past couple of days. It was a continuous battle at camp these days. Chase, Nudge and I weren't talking or even looking at each other, only to hurl insults or give each other murderous glances. It wasn't Angel I was angry with. It wasn't her who had kissed my crush.

Somewhere deep in the forest, Dreamer screamed.

**Okay, I hope Emerald was a little less Mary Sueish in this chapter.**

**Emerald: I hope so too!**

**Me: And also, some of my advice to make Emerald unMary-Sueify herself was to make her not find true love quickly. Well, I actually already had that all planned out so sorry! Tell me what you think! Next chapter coming soon!**

**IwriteUread. **

**P.S. If you don't know what a Mary Sue is, read The Maximum Ride guide to Mary Sues, by theweirdperson. It should really clear things up!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey people! It's me again!**

**Emerald: Who else could it be? Dear God…**

**Me: *Sighs* She's still grumpy 'cos I won't tell her what I've got planned. Do you want to do the disclaimers?**

**Emerald: No.**

**Me: Fine have it your way. I don't own Max Ride. I own my OC's and the plot. Onward!**

_Oh crap, _I thought.

I leapt off the boulders and sprinted towards the trees. Dreamer's screech was echoing in my ears. Oh God, what if they had kidnapped her? Or Poppy or Harry or Jake? I ran faster, then swore loudly as I tripped over a rock and did a face-plant. Why did I have to be so clumsy at the absolute worst times? Then I saw a spider. A frickin' _spider_, crawling up my arm. I screeched like a banshee and tried to scramble to my feet. GROSS, GROSS, GROSS!!! I really, really hate spiders. I got it off and continued running towards Dreamer's continued screeching, trying not to throw up. I burst through the trees, and then, of course, I tripped again.

"GOD DAMMIT!" I yelled, then I was pulled to my feet, and my hands were pinned behind my back. I looked around. Everyone was being held by Erasers, but it was obvious they had fought. Jake had a spilt lip and Iggy's eye was black. Max shot me a look that clearly said, _Where the Hell were you?_

I was so, so furious with myself. Because of a bloody spider, I hadn't been there to help them fight. If I had been there, we probably wouldn't be in this mess.

"Well, now that the gang's all here, I think we could start." One of the more ugly Erasers said.

"Start what?" Max snarled, "You could have waited for an invitation before you decided to gatecrash."

"Oh, we don't mind gatecrashing," the Eraser leered, and then I heard a muffled scream. I looked around, and what I saw made me feel sick. Two Erasers were holding Dreamer, and one of them had a hand over her mouth, and they were holding her above a fast-flowing, deep river. Rage filled me. How could they do that to a seven year old? Were they completely heartless? Dreamer was crying, terror in her big green eyes.

"Well, let's get started, then." The Eraser grinned, and actually licked his lips, "Where the all we can eat buffet start, boys? I'm thinking cat girl, but that's just my opinion." I heard Gazzy gasp and Chase moan. I screamed "Dreamer!" but the Eraser holding me put a hand over a mouth. The Erasers holding Dreamer dropped her on the ground and pinned her arms to the ground. Just as the Erasers were getting ready to leap at her, the lead guy cocked his head to one side, and muttered something I couldn't hear.

"Looks like the buffets going to have to wait, guys." He said, "But I give you permission to drop the kid in the river. She doesn't have wings, after all. Wish I could watch the show." Then the two Erasers picked Dreamer up, and held her above the river. She was truly screaming now, her eyes wide and terrified. Then…Then…

They dropped her.

I heard her screaming, followed by a splash. Then my Eraser dropped me, and the group ran into the wood, almost screaming with laughter. The Flock grouped together and looked over the edge of the cliff. I could just see a small blonde head being pulled down the river.

"OH MY GOD! WHAT DO WE DO?" Chase yelled. He didn't look his usual cool self. He looked younger, more vulnerable. His only sister was being pulled away from him. Maybe I was just being picky. Or stupid.

Max looked at Fang. "Could we…"

"The current's too strong, it'll pull us under and we won't be able to get out."

"Max, I have gills." Angel piped up.

"Yeah, but Dreamer doesn't." Gazzy said, his face white.

Suddenly, I knew what I had to do. I don't know what made me do it, and if I ever look back at it, I see it as the stupidest thing I've ever done. I walked determinately towards the cliff, pulling off my jacket.

"What are you doing?" Nudge asked, scowling.

I ignored her. I braced myself for what I was about to do. Then Chase grabbed my wrist.

"Don't be an idiot." He said, "You'll get yourself killed."

"I don't care what you have to say, Chase." I snarled.

"Emerald…"

"Do you _want _Dreamer to die?"

"No, but…"

"Well then get off me." I snarled, pulling my wrist out of his grasp, "See ya!"

Then I leapt off the side of the cliff.

***

I was instantly submerged in water. And I'll tell you this. It was really frickin' _cold_. I took a deep breath and inhaled most of the river. _Smart, Emerald, real smooth. _I tried breathing without inhaling the world's supply of water, and it actually worked. I know, you're shocked. I started swimming towards Dreamer. I looked up, and saw the flock flying across to the opposite bank. I continued to swim towards her. She was up to her neck in water, and even as I watched, she was pulled beneath the surface again. I dived under, and saw her floating underwater, her eyes closed.

_No, no, no! Don't be dead. Please don't be dead. _

I swam over to her and grabbed her under the arms. Then tried to swim to the surface.

I popped out of the water, taking deep breaths. And got hit over the head by a tree branch. I gasped and then screamed as I got pulled under again. Again I came up.

"No, no, swim, _swim_!" I yelled to myself. I couldn't use my arms to propel myself forward or I would drop Dreamer. I desperately kicked my legs, trying to get some power. But it wasn't doing squat. The current pulled me under again. And this time, I couldn't pull myself back up.

Everything was going fuzzy. I felt like my brain was about to explode. The only real thing I could feel was Dreamer. I clutched her more tightly to my chest. Chase was right. I had killed myself. I had killed us both. Just as everything was starting to go grey, a branch shot into the water out of nowhere. I grabbed it with my available hand, and felt myself get pulled upwards.

***

Dreamer and I got pulled upwards. We surfaced and I breathed in deeply, trying to fill my lungs. I was still clutching the branch. The Flock was at the end, pulling it. Dreamer and I got dragged out of the water and onto the bank. I felt for Dreamer's neck. Was that…yes! There was a pulse! I grinned widely and looked up.

"She's-alive." I managed to breathe.

"Oh thank God." Chase said, then he pulled me into a hug.

"You blithering _idiot_," He said, "You complete _retard. _How could you be so stupid?"

"I-I don't know." I whispered, then I burst into tears.

**Okay, done! Hope you liked it!**

**Emerald: I didn't like it.**

**Me: You hate everything from my outfit to my breakfast cereal because I won't tell you what I'm planning. So anyway Read and Review!**

**IwriteUread**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hello people!**

**Emerald: WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?!**

**Me: Emerald, I-**

**Emerald: I'VE BEEN LOCKED IN THE CUPBOARD UNDER THE STAIRS LIKE HARRY FRICKIN' POTTER FOR AGES NOW!**

**Me: Emerald, I-**

**Emerald: EXPLAIN YOURSELF!**

**Me: I will if you shut up!**

**Emerald: Right, fine. This better be a good excuse…**

**Me: This is how my life has been since last Thursday. **

**Thursday-Got a needle shoved into my arm and had trouble moving it.**

**Friday-Had to start the homework mountain from Hell.**

**Saturday- Was sleeping over at my friend's house.**

**Sunday- Still battling with homework from hell**

**Monday-See above**

**And from then on in I just had writer's block, basically.**

**Emerald: Right you're forgiven. You don't own Max Ride but you own my flock and the plot. Now get on with the story, **_**before I rip you apart.**_

I buried my face into Chase's chest, snivelling like a baby, then withdrew quickly. I didn't want to get his top wet. I was already embarrassed enough, thank you very much. But Chase pulled me in again, stroking my soaking wet hair while I cried into his shoulder. Jake wrapped his arms around my neck and Harry patted my shoulder. I looked at Max.

"What were you thinking?" She said, "I nearly had heart failure!"

"Yeah," Gazzy said, "Nudge was in hysterics." I looked at Nudge. Her eyes were bloodshot and her eyelashes were wet. Iggy stood up, and folded his arms, scowling at me.

"What the Hell were you doing?!" he demanded, "You scared the crap out of me."

Suddenly I realised. For the last few days, I had been thinking that Chase was exactly right for me and that the thrill I was getting everytime I looked at Iggy was just friendship. But now I knew: I didn't want Chase. I wanted _Iggy_.

I leapt to my feet and started running towards him. When I was close enough I stopped, stood on my toes, and smashed my lips firmly against his.

***

There was a couple of seconds were time might have frozen. Everything was still, focused on me and Iggy. I had my arms around his neck, praying that he wouldn't push me away yelled "EWWW! GROSS!" But then his head tilted, and he put his arms around my waist and pulled me closer. After what seemed like forever, we broke apart, both of us breathing a little heavily.

"Wow." I said breathlessly, and he chuckled. I turned around and walked over to Chase and Nudge, who were standing beside each other, amazed expressions mirrored on each other's faces.

"I'm sorry." I said simply. Then Nudge pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back, feeling like things might finally be starting to look up. Then I walked over to Iggy again and he took my hand. God knows how he knew where it was. Suddenly, Dreamer started coughing violently and woke up.

"Wha-What happened?" she said, her eyes locked on mine and Iggy hands. I looked at Chase and smiled.

"You explain." I said, before Iggy started pulling me into the woods.

_Maybe Angel was right. _I thought as we walked towards the woods, _Maybe I didn't know what I wanted…_

_I'm always right, _the smug little voice in my head said.

**Okay, it's finished! Again, sorry for the long wait. I feel like such a pig.**

**Emerald: You should do. **

**Me: Emerald, you're not meant to agree. Anyway, Read and Review!**

**IwriteUread**


	16. Chapter 16

**Hello friends! Welcome to another chapter!**

**Emerald: Yeah, hi and stuff.**

**Me: Why so emo, Emerald?**

**Emerald: Feel like it.**

**Me: Fair enough. Oh, and by the way, what were you and Iggy doing in the woods?**

**Emerald: Oh *goes into giggling weirdo mode***

**Me; I mean, you weren't… You didn't…**

**Emerald: EWWW! THAT'S DISGUSTING! I'M THRITEEN, YOU SICK PERVERT!!! *Hits Evie over the head with frying pan* Okay, I swear, nothing like that happened in the woods. Evie's left her notebook out so guess I'm writing the chapter today because she still isn't up! Evie doesn't own Max Ride or any other famous stuff you hear in this chapter but she does own me and my flock. So yeah, onward!**

I sighed happily as I gazed unconsciously into the night sky. Finally, it seemed like things were finally starting to go right for me. Dreamer had recovered from being chucked in the river. She was completely fine, except she now has a really bad cold. Me and Nudge were friends again, and me and Chase were, well, not as friendly as we used to be, but not enemies either. And best of all…

"Emerald, you're distracted." Iggy said, turning my face towards his.

"Not distracted, just thinking." I said, smiling stupidly.

"About…?" he said.

"Oh, just stuff." I said.

"Like…?"

"Dear god," I said, "you're as paranoid as Max." Then I tilted my head and kissed him gently on the lips. It was quick, maybe a second long.

"I donno, that's pretty paranoid." He said, smiling and stroking my hair.

"Yeah, maybe that's a bit much." I said, but I had barely finished my sentence when Iggy pulled me closer to him, and met my lips. I threw my arms around his neck and tilted my head so he could kiss me better. I was a good couple of inches shorter than him.

I don't know how long we sat like that. Could have been ten minutes, could have been ten years. You don't really keep time when you're making out, know what I mean? Finally, we broke apart, and Iggy said, "Maybe we should get back, we don't want Max to start flapping."

I sighed. "I guess so." We stood up, and Iggy took my hand. Then we ran towards the trees, and launched ourselves into the air.

***

A couple of minutes later, we arrived at the cliff. Dreamer and Gazzy were talking quietly in a corner. I really hoped he wasn't teaching her to make bombs. That's all I'd need. Angel was plaiting Poppy's hair while talking to Max, who was watching Fang talk to Chase, who was holding hands with Nudge.

"Hey, they're back." Gazzy said, looking up, "Alright, you two? Did you keep it K?" Harry snorted and Jake giggled. I scowled and Iggy aimed a kick at him. Max stood up.

"Fancy ungluing yourself from Emerald for five seconds and making dinner?" She said, rolling her eyes at Iggy.

He sighed. "If I must." He said sarcastically. Then he sat down by the fire and starting pulling food out of his backpack. I walked over and sat beside Jake.

"Hey." He said, looking up from were he was playing cards with Harry and Dreamer. Angel had taught us to play poker a couple of days ago, and the only person who Jake hadn't beaten yet was Angel. But no one can beat Angel, what with the mind reading and all.

"Hey." I said, "Who's winning?"

"Me." He said proudly, beaming.

"Not for long." Dreamer said, grinning slyly.

"Huh? What have you got?" Harry said, trying to look over her shoulder.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out." She said, grinning again. I laughed and then stood up and walked to the cliff entrance. Then I frowned, my eyes narrowing.

"Hey Chase, what's that?" I said, pointing. Chase walked over and stood beside me. He squinted, looking into the night sky. After a couple of seconds he said, "No idea." Max was soon beside us.

"What's going on?" She said, hands on her hips.

"We're just wondering what those are." Chase said, pointing at the six figures coming closer.

Her eyes narrowed, staring at the figures, then she suddenly yelled, "Oh crap!" and retreated into the cave. Everybody was looking at us now, confused expressions on their faces. Fang walked to stand beside us, squinted at the figures for a second, then swore softly under his breath.

I looked towards the figures, scowling. Why did I seem to be the only one who had no idea what was going on? I squinted at the figures, urging myself to look closer. Then I saw them. _No, it couldn't be, not now._

It was…It was…

**Emerald: All done!**

**Me: I believe you finished the chapter?**

**Emerald: *Squeaks and runs away* **

**Me: Coward. Anywho, read and review!**

**IwriteUread **


	17. Chapter 17

**Hello reviewers!**

**Emerald: Yeah, hey.**

**Me: Emerald is under cupboard arrest because I still have a headache from getting hit over the head with a frying pan.**

**Emerald: Heh-Heh.**

**Me; I recently got this story added to someone's favourites. Remember people, don't be scared to review! I won't bite!**

**Emerald: You bit me yesterday.**

**Me: You hit me with a frying pan!**

**Emerald: Okay, point made. You don't own Maximum Ride or anything else that sounds remotely famous. You own me and the rest of my flock! Now get on with it!**

**Me: You can't boss me about! You can't even spell with!**

**Emerald: I can!**

**Me: Do it then!**

**Emerald: Erm… Well… It has a W in it…**

**Me: My point exactly.**

It was _me_.

And not just me. There was a Harry and a Poppy (who, by the way, had BOTH arms) and a Jake and TWO Chases. I suddenly had a quick flashback _**Clones. Take blood from all of them…**_ Fan-bloody-tastic. Exactly what I needed. I groaned.

"Guys, heads up!" Max yelled, "We've got company!"

The two flocks instantly spread out their wings. Dreamer folded her arms over her chest and glared at Max, Chase and me.

"I'm coming too." She said stubbornly.

"No, you're not." Chase argued, "It's too dangerous."

"If you think I'm going to just sit here while the rest of you are out risking your lives…"

"We have wings, you don't. This is a battle in the air…"

"I DON'T CARE!"

"You two, stop arguing and let's go!" Max yelled, before pushing me off the side of the cliff. The rest of the flock followed. Together we flew towards our clones.

"DREAMER!" Chase yelled angrily.

I turned round. Dreamer had grabbed Gazzy by the ankle as he had flown out, and was gripping determinedly, looking like a bulldozer wouldn't budge her.

"Gazzy, pass her to Iggy and let's go!" Max yelled, now speeding towards the clones. We followed her. Then it begun.

***

I smashed my foot into the fake Poppy's shoulder. She turned around and snarled at me. I had never seen Poppy glare at me like that. Although I knew it was her clone, I still felt a twinge of pain as I looked into her clone's light brown eyes. That is, before she punched me across the face, making my head snap to the side. Okay, now I was angry. I dropped down so I was looking straight into her face. She grinned and then spoke.

"I can't believe you actually think you can win against us!" she laughed, her red hair blowing around her face, "You losers are nothing, _nothing_!" Then she aimed a kick at my face which only just missed.

"What did they tell you they'd give you in exchange for us?!" I yelled back, "How do you know they're not just going to kill you?!" Poppy's clone got caught off guard, her eyes narrowing. I backhanded her across the jaw and flew backwards before she could react.

"MAX!" I heard Angel yell. I turned around. Harry's clone had pinned her arms firmly behind her back, and was laughing, a crazed expression on his face.

"Ange!" Max yelled, flying towards them. The clone turned to her and grinned, before holding his hand up. Something like purple electricity shot out and hit her in the chest. She tumbled backwards in the air, shock on her face. I flew towards her, but found my path blocked by a figure about five foot seven, with shoulder length brown hair and dark brown eyes.

"It's almost as if they don't want their friends to come to the school!" My clone yelled to Chase's clone nearby, who was fighting Gazzy and Fang at the same time. I raised my hands in the air, ready to smash them over her eardrums. But she was too quick for me, grabbing both my wrists in a vice-like grip. She was prettier but at the same time more terrible than the real me, her eyes too wide, too mad. Dimly I heard Nudge screaming and Harry yelling.

"Let-go-of-me!" I yelled, trying to kick her, I mean me, I mean…Oh, never mind.

She cackled wildly, before smirking at me.

"Looks like your going to be responsible for the death of something you love again, Emerald." She said, before dropping me.

***

And then everything was gone. I was gone. I simply felt the wind rushing through my hair as the worst memory of my life playing over and over in my brain.

"_**NO! MOM! YOU JERKS, YOU BASTERDING JERKS…"**_

**Well, that's this chapter finished. Another one coming soon! Bye!**

**Emerald: See ya!**

**IwriteUread**


	18. Chapter 18

**Hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter! This is where everything starts to get, somewhat exciting. Emerald will not be doing the disclaimers today because she has Swine Flu…**

**Emerald: I do not! I just have a slight head cold.**

**Me; She has Swine Flu. So anyway, I don't own Max Ride or any other famousy thing. I own my flock and Swiney over there.**

**Emerald: IT'S NOT SWINE FLU!!!**

Ugh. My head hurt so bad. So did my arms. And my legs. And every other part of my body. I opened my eyes. Poppy, Harry, Chase, Jake and Dreamer were staring down at me, concerned expressions on their bruised faces. One, two, three, four, five…Five. Just five.

"Where's the flock?" I said, too quickly. It came out more like "Wheredaflo?"

"Huh?" Jake said, "Emerald, if you can hear us, please try to speak in a language we understand."

"Where's the flock." I said, my head hurting worse. "I mean, the last thing I remember was falling out of the sky. Who caught me? I mean, I'm not dead, so obviously someone caught me…" Great, now I sounded like Harry.

"Emerald!" Harry said.

"What?" I asked, sitting up and looking around. No flock.

"Emerald, they're gone. They took them." Poppy said, tears in her eyes.

That silenced me completely. I opened my mouth, and some weird choking noises came out. Iggy. Angel. Nudge. Gazzy. Max. Fang. I tried to talk again, aiming for "Well, we need to go kick some ass!" but achieving only "Wha-How?"

"After they took you down, a chopper came for them." Chase said, scowling, "They were just too quick for us and them. They were in the chopper before any of us knew what was happening."

I felt sick. How could they? They had kidnapped the flock. And, even worse, we had helped them do it. If we had fought harder, hadn't given them blood, this wouldn't have happened.

Well, now I was going to fix it. I stood up, then the world swayed and I leaned on Harry and Jake, feeling nauseous.

"What's happening?" Dreamer asked.

"We're going to go get them" I said. Chase sighed.

"Um, we didn't hear were they went." He said.

"Why not?!" I demanded.

"Uh, in case you didn't notice, we were all a bit preoccupied!" Chase snarled at me, "Maybe you should have been listening more carefully!"

"Stop it, just stop it!" Poppy yelled, stepping between us. "Do you two ever do anything but argue? And what are you grinning at?" She demanded at me.

"I just had an idea." I said.

"Well, spill!" Jake said.

"Just 'cos I can't remember right now, doesn't mean I _can't _remember." I said slowly.

There was a pause, then Harry said, "What in the name of God are you taking about?"

"My flashbacks." I said, "How many times have we seen the flock kidnapped by our own clones? I believe the answer is, at the most, once."

"Brilliant!" Poppy said, punching the air with her right fist.

"Well, go!" Chase said, now grinning.

I took a deep breath, concentrating on the fight. Almost at once, I was pulled into a memory.

"_**It's almost as if they don't want their friends to come to the school!" **_I heard the other Emerald scream. Then, with all the effort in the world, I pulled myself out.

"So, guys." I said, "Ready to storm the school?" There were cries of "Yes!" and Harry said, "Now that's what I'm talking about!"

"Let's go then!" I yelled, lifting Dreamer. She was heavy. Chase and me would have to take shifts or something.

And we took off, on our way to our little corner of Hell.

**Done!!! Next chappie coming soon! Say bye, Emerald!**

**Emerald: COUGH, COUGH, COUGH!!!"**

**Me: Swine Flu. Well bye people!!!**

**IwriteUread**


	19. Chapter 19

**Hey guys!!!! New chapter!! Number nineteen, wow! **

**Emerald: I know, it feels like I've been here for much longer.**

**Me: Yeah. Every minute's felt about sixty seconds long.**

**Emerald: Yeah…**

***Awkward silence***

**Me: Hello.**

**Emerald: Hi.**

**Me: What's your name?**

**Emerald: Emerald. Hang on-What?**

**Me: Do the disclaimers, you loser.**

**Emerald: Evie doesn't own anything famous etc. She owns me, my flock and the plot. Let's move!**

Dreamer was humming this annoying song over and over again, right in my ear.

"Dreamer, please shut up with the humming." I said to her, yelling over the wind and the stupid humming.

"But it's Queen!" Dreamer said, her eyes wide.

"I don't care if it's the Queen of Frickin' England, just shut up before I drop you out of the sky."

"Fine." Dreamer said, crossing her arms over her chest and pouting. I sighed. The joys of carrying a wingless seven year old to the place where you have been tortured for most of your life. There's no bigger pleasure.

"Emerald." Poppy said, flying over to me.

"What?" I snarled. I was getting grumpy from the long flight and the song that was _still being hummed in my ear_.

"There's no point taking that tone." Poppy said reasonably, rolling her eyes, "I just wanted to ask you something."

"Shoot." I said, pinching Dreamer. I swear, if she didn't give it a rest soon, I was seriously going to drop her.

"Chase and I were just wondering what you're plan was, you know, when we get to the school."

"Well, it's…" I stopped there, since I _didn't have a clue_.

"Yes?" Harry called over. Oh God, pressure… Everyone was staring at me now, including Dreamer, who had given up her humming and was now full on singing. Distraction, much?

"Dreamer, be quiet, I think Emerald's trying to think." Jake said. Dreamer ignored him.

"_I want to break free, _Stop bossing me about, Jake. You're younger than me, _Break free from your lies…_"

"Dreamer, be quiet. You don't have one, do you?" Chase said, raising his eyebrows.

"No, I mean, Yes!" I said, "Like I said, we're going to storm it."

"So, basically, we're just going to run in, screaming and waving our hands about, grab the flock and get out?" Chase said sceptically, his eyebrows raising higher.

"You have a better plan?" I snarled, over Dreamer's continued screeching-I mean _singing_.

"_God knows, I got to make it on my own…_"

"Can you be quiet Dreamer?" Poppy said. I saw Poppy and Chase glance at each other, their eyes telling an unsaid conversation. _Have you ever heard of a worse plan? Honestly…no._

Well, screw them. I'd to see them being leader. I'd like to see them trying to get Harry to stop talking long enough to breathe, like to see them asking Jake to stop pigeons stalking us, like to see them trying to get Dreamer to shut up.

"_Oh, I got to break free…"_

"DREAMER, SHUT UP!!!" We all yelled.

***

"So, ready to put on our face paints?" Chase said sarcastically. I scowled at him. Dreamer had finally stopped singing. But maybe that was because of where we were.

We were in the forest just outside the school, the one we had ran into when escaping from it barely two weeks ago. And now we were back. Performing our own little rescue mission. Way-Hey.

"Emerald, I feel ill." Dreamer muttered. She did look very unwell. Her face was pale and she looked like barfing was seconds away.

"Hold it in, Dreamer." I said, trying to ignore my own churning stomach, "We'll be in and out before you know it, you'll see."

"One out of Two right, girl." A beautiful, poetic voice said right behind me, "You'll be coming in all right, but you sure as Hell won't be coming out."

**Ohhhhh, cliffy!**

**Emerald: **_**Oh, I want the break free…**_

**Me: Um, Emerald? Trying to do author's note here.**

**Emerald: It's catchy! **

**Me: I'm just going to ignore her. Next chapter is coming soon. Chapter 20!!! ZOMG! Bye for now! **

**IwriteUread**


	20. Chapter 20

**Yo, people!!!! How's it hanging??? **

**Emerald: What are you **_**on**_**?**

**Me: Coffee and chocolate.**

**Emerald: Fair enough.**

**Me: I think this story will soon reach its dramatic conclusion. I'm guessing there will be maybe 3, 4 more chapters. But my guesses are usually way off.**

**Emerald: They are, watch. Evie, guess the time without looking at the clock.**

**Me: Half past three!**

**Emerald: It's ten to two. **

**Me: Oh, alright then. Emerald?**

**Emerald: Evie does not own Max Ride or anything famous. She owns me and the plot.**

**Both: ONWARD!**

There was no mistaking that beautiful Eraser's voice, like, right behind us. Brilliant. Poppy stiffened next to me and Dreamer groaned. I nearly swore. I had led them right into an ambush. How could I be so _retarded? _A hand grabbed my hair and pulled me to my feet. And then an Eraser said, "Let's go home, mutant. Maybe there'll be a couple of surprises waiting for you." And then the six of us were dragged toward the school. Not exactly the big, victorious entry I was hoping for. I noticed they'd already mended the wall. Ho Hum.

I was kicking and swearing at my Eraser, but for all the use it was doing, I may as well have left out the kicking.

"Dear God," the Eraser dragging Jake said, "That is some epic language."

"It's the delivery that makes it truly spectacular." Harry's Eraser said, "I don't think she's even taken a breath yet."

"GET OFF YOU STUPID BLOODY ASSHOLES!" I was still yelling, and the Erasers all laughed. We were at the gates now, and an Eraser pressed a button beside the gate.

"What?" a stiff voice said, crackling a little through the loud speaker.

"We got the other six!" the Eraser holding Chase said, "The other mutants!"

There was a pause, then the voice said, "Come in." And the gates swung open. I groaned. Why couldn't the voice had said, "Please hold for three hours." Or something like that?

We were dragged through the gates and into the prison yard. If we weren't being held by the Erasers, I would have yelled something like "Doesn't this place bring back memories?!" But since we _were_ being held by Erasers, I didn't bother.

We were pulled into the middle of the yard, and then the Erasers released us. I looked around, and saw, through arms of a lot of Erasers, the flock sitting in different sized cages. Nudge looked up and gave me a small smile. How could she smile??? Did she have any idea were we where? Now I looked, all of the flock looked perfectly calm. I was practically fainting from fear. They must have done this before.

"Stand for the Director of Itex." A geeky looking whitecoat said through a megaphone. While the whitecoats and Erasers were grumbling and getting to their feet, I pulled my foot behind me and brought it down. A sharp intake of breath told me it was Harry's.

"What the Hell was that for?" He whispered/snapped.

"Count to one hundred, then attack." I muttered, trying to move my lips as little as possible. I heard him repeat my plan to the others.

_One…Two…Three…Four…_

The crowd was parting, revealing a woman with dark brown hair and darker eyes. She looked vaguely familiar, like a friend you had met at kindergarten and then forgotten. But I had never been to kindergarten.

_Thirty three…Thirty four…_

The woman came over, and spoke directly to me.

"Emerald, it's been ages since I saw you." She said.

What the Heck? Did I know her?

_Fifty five…Fifty six…_

"You've gotten so big. You look so much like her."

_Sixty seven…Sixty eight…_

"Who are you?" I snarled. Okay, I know people say 'Be polite to strangers'. Well I say, screw them.

"You don't recognize me? I guess it has been ages since I saw Megan."

_Seventy nine…Eighty…_

Okay, so I don't know much about my past. What I do know is that Megan was the name of my mom.

"What? You knew her?" I said, shocked.

"Knew her? I grew up with her!" The Director said.

_Ninety six…Ninety seven…_

"I'm your auntie, Emerald."

_Ninety nine…One hundred._

The rest of my flock lunched into battle, hitting and punching and kicking.

I simply stared at the Director. Stared and stared and stared.

Dimly I heard Chase yell, "Emerald, what are you doing? MOVE!" But it sound as if it was coming from one end of a very long tunnel. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw me fighting Poppy. The clones had joined the battle.

Suddenly I gave a jerk. _What was I doing??? _My family were getting beat up, and I was staring at a short woman with a spot on her chin. Instantly I lunched at the fake me, ready to roundhouse kick her in the chest. But she was ready for me too, lifting her arm and grabbing my ankle, swinging me into a wall. Fireworks danced in front of my eyes. Hands grabbed me, and forced me into a cage. I looked around. Everyone in a cage was glaring at me.

"You doofus!" Chase snapped, and Poppy said, "It was your plan! You told us the plan! And you're the reason the plan didn't go to plan!"

"I'm sorry." I said, tears pouring down my cheeks. It looks like I was going to be the one who killed my family.

Again.

**All done! Did you like it?**

**Emerald: Meh. It was so-so.**

**Me; Shut up, Emerald. Next chapter coming soon!**

**IwriteUread**


	21. Chapter 21

**Emerald: Hey peoples!!!**

**Me: Hey, that's my line! You're the one who rudely buts in!!!**

**Emerald: I thought we should change it around a bit.**

**Me: But that's completely pointless!!!**

**Emerald: It's not really…**

**Me: Why are you making us swap roles???**

**Emerald: Because…**

**Me: What are you sick of me or something?**

**Emerald: No but-**

**Me: Do you want me to make you die? Because I have that happy power you know!**

**Emerald: I'M SICK OF DOING THE DISCLAIMERS THE BORE THE HELL OUT OF ME NOW LEAVE ME ALONE! *Jumps out window and flys to Berlin randomly* **

**Me: Aw, well. Guess I'm disclaiming! I don't own Max Ride, but I own Emerald, her flock and the plot.**

I was curled up in the bottom of my cage, crying. It was my fault, my fault. They're all gonna die…

"It isn't your fault." Angel said, reading my thoughts.

_It is, it is, it is…_

"Emerald, it's _not_." Dreamer said, "Poppy and Chase are just a bit angry."

_With me._

"With the whitecoats." Angel said, rolling her eyes.

"Why are you so determined to blame yourself for everything?" Iggy said.

_Because it's my fault._

"Emerald, it _isn't_." Angel said forcefully.

"That was major news you just got, you weren't exactly ready for a fight." Nudge said.

"Mmmm…" I muttered, feeling slightly better.

"I think we should just concentrate on getting out of here." Max said, trying to sound strong and leaderly while being bent almost double in a cage.

And then the only thing guaranteed to make me mood worse sauntered over. Emerald two.

"Hey, miss me." She jeered, bending down and looking in at me.

"Oh, yeah." I said sarcastically, "It sucks without you around."

"So do you, Emerald." She said, grinning scarily, "You've just wrecked any chances of survival. There getting the Erasers ready as we speak. It started off only _they _were going to die," I motioned to Max's flock, "But know you've killed your friends as well. You're a frickin' loser. I can't believe I'm your double. I'm probably a million times smarter than you. But that wouldn't be hard. You have the brain of a dead earwig."

I don't know what it was, but right then I got so angry. I couldn't swallow. I could hardly breathe. Everything else I could see faded away. Everything except _her _face.

_She's nothing like me, _I thought, _she looks like me, she talks like me. That's the only thing similar between the two of us. We're two completely different people. _And still the only thing I could see was her face. So I did the only thing that made sense. I raised my fist, and punched her as hard as I could in her nose.

***

I heard a weird crunching noise as her nose broke. Blood was flowing out of it like a river. She started swearing angry, kicking my cage.

"You little Bitch!" She yelled, red blood all over her face, and through the red I saw a more pinky shade. She was blushing, embarrassed that I had broke the "magnificent clones" nose. Magnificent my ass.

"You know, I don't think we look that alike." I said, "Because, last time I checked, my face wasn't that red." She kicked my cage again.

"Leave it, subject 19." The director, my frickin' _aunt, _said. Scowling at me, the fake me walked over to where the fake Poppy was standing.

"You are so like Megan." The director said, bending down to look at me. Then she said jealously, "You've even got wings like her. Though not the same colour."

"Well, what's your point?" I said, "You have them too. Or have you told your geeky friends that teensy tiny detail?"

She sighed, then looked me straight in the eyes.

"No, Emerald. I don't. I've never had wings."

***

"Huh?" I said, puzzled. Why would my aunt not have wings? It was kinda obvious it ran in the family, what with Charlotte and I having them and all.

The director sighed, then said, "When I found out I was getting a little sister, I was five years old, the same age as your friend Jake." She looked at him, and he gave her the finger. I blame Iggy and Gazzy. Her eyes closed briefly, then she opened them, speaking to me again. "Nine months came and went, and then I had a little sister, Megan.

Three months after her birth, she went missing from our back garden while our mother was inside. We looked for months; finally clarifying we were never going to find her. My father, mother and I moved on.

Almost ten years after her disappearance, she returned to us, telling stories about a place called the school and about being tortured there. We wouldn't have believed her, if it weren't for the fourteen foot wings that had appeared on her back." I sucked in a breath. My mom had went through all the pain I had? Probably more, since she didn't have wings when she was born.

"My parents were overjoyed. Although they had missed most of her childhood, they were so happy to have her back, safe. As our parents bought her gifts and affection, I was shunted to one side.

I left school and started working in a laboratory, doing tests on animals. On my thirtieth birthday, I heard some more news guaranteed to make me hate my sister more than I did already. She was getting married and had already started a child.

She got married and had a little girl, which she named Charlotte. Seven years after, she had another child. You, Emerald." She paused, as if she expected me to yell something like Oh my god, _moi?_" But since I didn't, she continued.

"I knew by now that I worked at the school. I knew we experimented illegally on humans. I decided I'd had enough. As your father was driving home from work, I shone a spotlight in his eyes. He swerved and was killed." Now rage was surging through me. This manic had _killed my father. _

"Ever since I killed your father, I had been thinking and thinking about Megan, about how she had always been more beautiful, more _loved _than me. Then I got news that gave me a perfect reason to do what I had been battling with myself for two years. I got a phone call from Megan, who had no idea where I worked, saying that she had been promoted at work and was going to work at the New York Times. I cracked. I sent Erasers to your house in Arizona, telling them to take the youngest daughter, my niece. I gave them permission to do whatever they had to do to get you."

I was shaking. No, no, please don't say what I think you're going to say…

She looked at me, her brown eyes, so like my mom's, meeting mine.

"I guess, in a way, I killed your mother."

**All done! Nothing much to say here. I got a phone call from Emerald. She's flying back from Berlin soon. Next chapter coming soon.**

**IwriteUread.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Hello people!**

**Emerald: *Opens mouth***

**Me: I have had a lot of homework.**

**Emerald: Fine.**

**Me: Okay, a couple of things:**

**a) I have put pictures of what I want Emerald, Poppy, Dreamer and Jake look like on my profile. ****Check them out!**

**b) If you are new to this story, and have added it to your favourites or story alert, ****DON'T BE AFRAID TO REVIEW!**** I won't eat you, you know.**

**c) Did you know you can read ****ALL**** of the Maximum Ride manga volume 1 on manga fox? Well, now you know.**

**d) For the last two chapters, I didn't get very many reviews. I'm not one of those people who say "Oooooh, I want 50, 000 reviews before I do the next chapter!" I'm just pointing it out**

**e) After this chapter, there will be one more chapter, an epilogue, and then the story is done. Just warning you. Emerald?**

**Emerald: Evie doesn't own Maximum Ride. She owns the plot, and you know, me and stuff. **

_**Charlotte, how many candles are on the cake?**_

My mum's voice ran through my head, but something was different-off. I was in the memory, but yet I could tell where I was, what I was doing. The Director was still standing in front of my cage, looking directly at me.

_**Two.**_

And yet it sounded slow, fuzzy, like it was coming through a badly tuned radio. The picture kept flickering.

I threw myself against the bars of the cage, screaming and trying to beat the door off. The Director seemed to have noticed something was wrong, because she had started to back away.

_**What are you talking about?!**_

_No-No, you're not seeing that, _I thought, shoving the door again. The screws were starting to loosen.

And then the image faded completely, the voices dieing away.

Just like that.

I'd just spent eleven years trying to control that memory, and then it shuts down in the space of, what, two minutes?

I mean, What the Heck?

Suddenly, an idea struck me.

_Angel? _I thought, still screaming and belting the cage.

_Yeah Emerald?_

_I'm distracting her, tell Chase to melt the locks, _I thought.

I started screaming louder, and started saying the first things that came to my head.

"YOU KILLED HER! I'LL KILL YOU!" I screamed, and then I realised I wasn't lying, wasn't just trying to scare her. She was the reason my mum is dead. She deserved to die.

The screws were truly loosening now. I had a feeling…

I pushed my full weight onto the door. It fell off completely and I tumbled out.

I leapt to my feet and started pelting full on towards The Director. Realising what I was doing, she screamed and started running towards the school's main building. An Eraser leapt at me, but I dodged him easily and continued sprinting. I was close enough to her now. I could hear her panting. She was nearly at the door.

And that's when I grabbed her around the middle, and hauled her into the air.

***

I'll tell you this; she was no light-weight.

We were flying upwards, away from the prison yard. The Director was screaming blue murder, kicking and swearing all at the same time. Quite impressive, actually.

"PUT ME DOWN!" She screamed.

"Okay." I said calmly, folding my wings and letting us drop.

"NO! NO! STOP! PLEASE!"

"Well, only 'cos you said 'please'." I said, flapping again.

"Just don't drop me!" She yelled.

"Oh, I have no intention of dropping you." I said, taking us still higher. She breathed a sigh of relieve. "Yet." I added, and she whimpered.

"I want you to answer some questions." I said, "And I _might_ only drop you from two hundred feet if you answer honestly."

She gulped.

"What about my friend's families? Are they alive?"

She took a deep breath.

"Yes."

"Any particular reason why you decided to wreck their lives too?"

"No. They were just there. They could have been anyone."

I felt a sharp pain in my side. _They could have been anyone. _Harry could have been High School Jock. Poppy could have been head cheerleader. Dreamer could have been Homecoming Queen. I swallowed.

"Are there any members of my family left?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"There's me…" But I interrupted her.

"You're not my auntie. You're not even my dog. If my auntie had a dog and her dog's kid had a pet, that wouldn't even be you. In fact…"

"Your sister survived."

I nearly dropped out of the sky in shock.

"Whaaaa?" I stammered.

"I don't know how she survived the Eraser attack, but she did. She's still alive. Lives somewhere in Illinois, I think."

"How do you know all this?" I asked.

"There are files, in my office, on you six. I look through them sometimes."

"Nothing on Max's Flock?"

She shrugged as much as she could while being held in mid-air.

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Okaaay." I breathed out, then started diving downwards.

_Whoosh!_

The bullet flew so close to me that I let go of The Director. As she plummeted downwards, I heard her high-pitched screaming. I looked at the spot where she had vanished. This is what I wanted, wasn't it? I never really intended to actually kill her, but this was a complete accident, wasn't it? And she deserved to die anyway, didn't she?

The Director, the person who killed my mother and father.

The Director, my auntie…

***

Within two seconds, I was aiming for the ground, waiting to see her falling. I burst through the cloud, and saw her falling. She was still screaming. I flapped downwards, holding my arms out to catch her. When…

_Whoosh!_

_Another _bullet flew in front of me, and I had to swerve sharply left to avoid it. She was too close; I wasn't going to catch her…

From probably fifty feet up, I could clearly hear the sickening thud as she hit the ground.

I got so distracted, I forgot how to land. I hit off the ground, flew forward and ploughed into Fang, who ploughed into Max.

I detangled myself from the mess of arms, legs and wings and ran towards the body. She had landed on her back. Her eyes were closed and her hands were laying either side of her head. I think she must have covered her eyes. I placed my hand on her wrist. Nothing. Then on her neck. Nadda.

"Emerald?" Iggy said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"She's dead." I said, standing up. I didn't know what to do, what to feel…

"Emerald, let's leave." Max said, determinedly looking anywhere but the body. The yard was completely empty. I guessed the others must have dealt with most of the Whitecoats and Erasers.

"You guys go on." I said, "There's something I want to check out."

**All done! One more chapter, and then the epilogue :(**

**Emerald: I'm gonna miss you.**

**Me: Read and Review!**

**IwriteUread**


	23. Chapter 23

**OHMYGODOHMYGOD second last chapter!!! *Whimpers***

**Emerald: Calm down, Evie.**

**Me: I AM BLOODY CALM!!!**

**Emerald: Yeah, I can tell by the way your face is going purple.**

**Me: BE QUIET! YOU'RE DUMB AS A BRICK! DUMBER!**

**Emerald: She's in a bad mood because I'm leaving soon (and because of those wonderful teenage mood swings). She doesn't know how she's gonna manage without me.**

**Me: *Fumes quietly in a corner***

**Emerald: She loves me.**

**Me: Good grief…**

**Emerald: I see your face is no longer red...**

**Me: Please, don't go there. Just do the disclaimer.**

**Emerald: Okay, okay! Sheesh. Evie does not own Max Ride. She owns my flock and the plot.**

**Me: Let's go!**

"Emerald, what are you planning?" Max narrowed her eyes at me.

"Nothing, Max, honest. I just want to see something."

"Uh-huh. Last time Gazzy said that, the fish bowl blew up less than an hour later."

"Yeah, but I'm not Gazzy." I said, "Honestly, Max, just go on."

She sighed, realising that I wasn't leaving, then motioned for the others to take off.

"How long will you be?" She asked. The grounds were completely empty. The Erasers and Whitecoats had probably scattered when they realised who the person falling from the sky was.

"I donno. Maybe an hour, hour and a half?" I said, glancing round the deserted yard.

"Right, fine. Meet you back at the cave." Max said, before spreading her wings and joining the flock. Iggy was carrying Dreamer. I watched them leave, then turned and walked towards the main building. I passed the Director, lying in the position I had left her. I didn't know what to think, what to feel. It all depended on whether what she said was true…

I opened the school's door and it swung open silently, revealing a long corridor leading further and further into the building.

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes and letting the last couple of hours wash over me, then started walking.

***

What was I looking for? I didn't even know. A bright fluorescent yellow sign saying "Director's office, this way!"? Uh, no.

I walked through the corridors, pausing every so often to give a random door a tug, only to groan and keep walking, a determined scowl on my face. The corridor suddenly took a sharp right, and I started running down it. Even though the building seemed completely deserted, I didn't know, couldn't tell, if I was truly alone.

These thoughts distracted me so much that I walked smack bang into a very visible wooden door, and fell backwards onto my butt. How smart am I?

Cursing the stupid door, I stood up and my eyes came level with a gold plague attached to it. Director's office. _Hello…_

I pushed down on the door handle, expecting it to be locked, but it swung open. I smiled.

It looked like a school headmaster's office, apart from the fact that the wall was covered in science memos, diagrams, posters. There were even a couple of test-tubes on top of a filing cabinet. _Hey! A filing cabinet! That could work…_

I opened the bottom drawer, and saw a file labelled "Hybrids." That looked promising. I opened it and gasped.

There, _right there, _was Poppy's name, her full name, Poppy Garland, her date of birth, her parents full names, even names of siblings, and a state name. I swallowed hard and put the pages in my bag.

After Poppy I found Harry, Chase and Dreamer, Jake, and then…me.

I didn't have time to look through them all, so I shoved them in my backpack, which was hard enough as I was quivering so much, then left the school. I would have liked to have brunt it down for good measure, but like I said, I didn't have time.

***

"And you have been _where?_" Were, predictably, Chase's first words when I flew into the cave almost two hours after the others left.

"Got a bit lost in the school." I said, folding my wings and flopping down beside Jake, "But that's not important. Look what I found!" I took out Chase's pages and handed them to him. He looked at them, biting his lip, then his eyes went wide and he sat down beside Iggy.

"Will someone please tell me what is going _on?_" Gazzy said, looking from Chase to me to Chase again.

"Oh, my God. My parents. Dreamer, _our parents._" Chase stammered.

"WHAT! Let me see!" Dreamer yelled, almost flattening Nudge as she ran towards Chase. There was almost instant uproar.

"OH MY GOD, EMERALD, WHERE DID YOU GET THEM?!" Jake yelled.

"DO I HAVE ANY?!" Harry yelled.

"WHAT ABOUT THE FLOCK?!" Poppy yelled, pointing towards Max and the others.

"I found them at the school. That's what was keeping me. We all have some, but I couldn't find any on Max's flock." I turned to the six of them, "I'm sorry."

"Nah, it's okay." Iggy said, shrugging, "You can't help that our files are more secure. We're just superior like that." Angel elbowed him.

"Okay," I said, passing pages out, "When someone sees anything interesting, scream."

"AHHH!" Harry yelled immediately.

"What!" I yelled.

"Just practising." he said, grinning. I rolled my eyes.

***

"Has anyone else noticed there are no actual addresses?" Chase said, ten minutes later. We had all found ourselves on the sheets, including info on our parents and siblings. Wanna hear something interesting? Poppy has two nine year old twin sisters named Abigail and Jade and Harry's mum is asthmatic.

"Hmmm…" I said, "Guess we need to work out some stuff ourselves. At least we know what state they live in." 'Cos what would be the fun of getting the actual addresses straight away?

"But we can't leave yet." Jake said, glancing at Max.

"Maybe we can." I said, standing up and walking to stand beside Max. "Uhhh, Max?"

She put a finger to her lips and frowned. I raised my eyebrows. Huh. Well, if that's how you want it… I turned around and started walking away.

"Hey, Emerald!"

I turned back. Max was smiling at me.

"You guys can leave if you want."

"Serious?!" Dreamer shouted, her eyes lighting up.

"Yep." She said, standing beside me. She held out her hand.

"Well, bye." She said.

"Yeah, bye." I said, then without even planning it, hugged her tightly. She gave a small start but then hugged me back briefly. I let go and hugged Angel and Nudge, and then smiled at Gazzy and Fang. I knew what they would do if I tried to hug _them. _Then I turned to Iggy. Beside me, Nudge and Chase were exchanging a thoroughly non-verbal goodbye.

"Bye, Ig." I said shyly, feeling myself turn into boiled lobster girl on the spot.

"See ya, Emerald." He said, then pulled me into him. We kissed, trying to ignore the way Gazzy and Harry were wolf-whistling, very distracting.

"Maybe I'll see ya sometime." He said when we broke apart.

"Yeah." I said, then turned around to join the rest of my flock. We waved at the Flock once more, before turning and leaping off the cliff, all of us bracing ourselves to face whatever was coming next.

_Thank you, Max, _I thought, _Thank you so much, for everything._

**Okay, to be honest, I don't think this was my best chapter. But Ho Hum.**

**Emerald: Huh?**

**Me: Never mind. Epilogue is coming soon :( **

**IwriteUread**


	24. EpilougeTwo years on

**Okay, this is it.**

**Emerald: You've seen that movie?!**

**Me: Emerald?**

**Emerald: Yes?**

**Me: Shut up now, you're killing a heart felt goodbye.**

**Emerald: Oh.**

**Me: Well, this is the last chapter of the story. It has taken me roughly 2 months to finish all 24 chapters, and to tell truth, I'm really gonna miss it.**

**Emerald: …**

**Me: But anyway…**

**Emerald: *randomly hugs me and starts crying* I'm sorry, Evie!**

**Me: What the-**

**Emerald: I'm always so sarcastic and I never do the disclaimers right and get on your nerves all the time and I'm gonna miss you so much! WAHHHHH!**

**Me: Get off me you wuss and do the final disclaimer (dun dun dun).**

**Emerald: *sniffles* Evie doesn't own Max Ride. She owns me and the plot.**

**Me: Onward to the end!!! BTW, in this chapter, it's two years after the rest of the story, so Emerald, Poppy and Chase are fifteen, Harry is twelve, Dreamer is nine, Jake is seven, and Charlotte is twenty-two. Okay, now seriously, we're going.**

**2 years later…**

I checked the address on the sheet of paper and looked up at the tower block. This looked like the place. I didn't know what I was going to do if this wasn't the right address. It had already happened a couple times before and each time it took me weeks to get off my lazy ass and get going again. And frankly I was sick of sleeping on either Poppy's or Jake's sofa every week. Just then the brick of a cell phone Harry's mom had given me started ringing. Yes, I did say _brick. _It wasn't the best phone in the world, but it did what it needed to do, which was good enough for me. **(A/N: My mum always says this about her car LOL) **I took it out of my pocket and checked the screen. Great, it was Poppy. I was gonna get it now… I said "Hello?" warily into the speaker.

"Where are you?!" Poppy demanded.

"Oh hi Poppy, how are you?" I said, just to annoy her.

"I nearly died when I woke up this morning and found the sofa empty!"

"I left a note." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Oh yeah," Poppy snarled, "'Went out, be back later'. That tells me _everything _I need to know."

"Jesus, Poppy, calm down." I said, climbing the steps leading to the ninth floor.

"Where are you, anyway."

"Chicago."

"Chicago, Illinois?"

"No, Poppy, Chicago China."

"Ha ha. Any reason why you wanted to travel from Arizona to Illinois over night?"

"Not over night."

"No?"

"I left at half five this morning."

"Stop it. Now tell me."

Just then the wave of what I was about to do, of what would happen if, for once, something actually went right for me, washed over me, and I momentarily couldn't speak.

"Emerald? What's going on?" Poppy asked, sounding slightly worried.

"Poppy, I've…I've tried again…And, I think I've got it right this time."

"YOU WHAT?!" Poppy screeched down the phone, "Why didn't you tell me, you dipstick?!"

"I don't know." I said. You may have guessed that my vocabulary hadn't changed much in the last two years.

"Well, how accurate do you think you are?" Poppy asked.

"I don't know, do I? I'm not a _bleep _mind-reader." I snarled. It happens when I'm nervous.

"Okay, calm down. Breathe in and out."

"I _am _breathing, you loser." I was getting really nervous now, as you may have guessed. Suddenly I felt myself change tack completely. "Oh God, Poppy. What if it's not her? I don't know if I could deal with that again. Not again." My voice broke, and I felt tears welling up in my eyes.

"Shhh, Ems." Poppy said, "It's gonna be alright."

"But what if it's not?!" I wailed.

"Then come back to my place and I'll have a movie and Ben and Jerry's Phish Food waiting for you." Despite how crap I felt, I laughed just then.

"Okay, but it better not be frozen yogurt." I said, and we both laughed.

"Ring me, and tell me how it goes." She said.

"Okay, bye." I said, and we cut off. I walked on up the steps, feeling like my stomach had been replaced with slush. When I got to the ninth floor, I stopped and took a clipboard out of my backpack, then tried to control myself, tried to make it look like I wasn't shaking with fear inside. Standard procedure. I walked along the corridor, trying not to throw up. I stopped outside the fifth door along, and rang the doorbell. A girl who looked in her early twenties opened the door. She had black hair pulled into two loose buns either side of her head and deep, dark brown eyes. My mum's eyes. _My eyes. _

"Yes?" she said, opening the door a bit wider.

"Hello…miss. I'm doing a survey. Could you answer some questions for me?" It's a good thing I look older than fifteen, or she might not have believed me.

"Right. Sure." She said.

"I'll need your name and age." I said, pulling a pen out of my pocket and trying to look as professional as a fifteen year old girl meeting her sister for the first time in thirteen years could look.

"Charlotte Murphy. And I'm twenty-two." I felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. Oh. My. God. Of course, I didn't know for sure if it was her. There could be hundreds of Charlotte Murphys in America.

"And…Do you have any family? Brothers or sisters?" I said, my voice going slightly higher.

"Well, I did, but…There was a… Thirteen years ago…She…She…" Suddenly, Charlotte's eyes flashed dangerously. "Why? _Who wants to know?_" She was trying to close the door now. I put my hand up to try and stop it.

"No! Charlotte! Please! Open the door! Open the door!" I yelled, tears rolling down my cheeks. I pulled the door with all my strength, trying to stop her closing it.

"Who are you?! Keep away from me!" She said, pulling it on the other side.

"Charlotte, it's me!" I said, then I extended my wings, right there in a hall way. Where anyone could've seen me.

Charlotte let go of the door, her mouth in a little o shape. I stood there awkwardly, my wings still out.

"Oh, my God." Charlotte breathed, then tears started pouring out of her eyes, "Oh my God, Emerald!" Then she pulled me into a hug, and I put my head into her shoulder, and then both of us where crying.

Finally, after thirteen years, we were together.

For the Foreseeable Future.

**Oh my goodness. I ended it. It's all over. All done. I've finished it. Good grief. **

**Okay, now that I'm over the shock, I'd like to thank all my reviewers. **

**Flockgirl, , The Flock's Bud, Jennedy, shadowleaf264, Yreva13, fangsgirl123, Cap't Mo, SGwannabe, AkariZeriChana-newAmerica- and Marios toaster. You guys ****MADE**** this story. If you guys hadn't kept up your constant reviews, I wouldn't have the motivation to stick with this story 'till the end. Thank you. **

**Also, thank you to everyone who favourited and added to story alerts etc. I delete emails form FF so I can't remember all your names. But big thank yous to you as well. **

**Ending this story…NOW!**

**IwriteUread**


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